Jan 21, 2015 4 min read

In the pantheon of meaningless “victories,” the restoration of 111 of late Penn State football coach Joe Paterno’s wins in a settlement between the university and the NCAA ranks right up there.

Paterno’s wins were vacated in 2012 when the NCAA punished Penn State for failing to do more – failing to do anything, really – to stop Jerry Sandusky from sexually abusing children. Frankly, that was an empty gesture on the part of the NCAA. That institution’s miscues and miscalculations over the years could fill a book, and it’s patently ridiculous to strip away victories that were witnessed by thousands, in some cases millions, of people. The games were won. They can’t be “unwon,” regardless of what the NCAA might say.

But having those wins put back in Penn State’s and JoePa’s victory column is no cause for celebration, not when one thinks about the reason they were voided in the first place.

The settlement, which also includes an agreement to spend a $60 million fine against Penn State in efforts to fight child abuse in Pennsylvania, simply represents the NCAA’s recognition that the legal battles it was fighting with the university, its supporters and Paterno apologists were a no-win proposition.

Here’s one of the more ridiculous responses, from Penn State backer and state Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman: “The fact of the matter was, an evil predator operated in our community for years and everyone missed it. The NCAA has surrendered. The agreement we reached represents a complete victory for the issue at hand.”

No, it doesn’t. And that bit about “everyone” missing Sandusky’s activities is laughable. Apparently Corman forgot that, according to investigations of the scandal, Penn State graduate assistant football coach Mike McQueary saw Sandusky engaged in what appeared to be sexual improprieties with a child in a Penn State shower in 2001 and reported it to Paterno, who in turn notified his supposed higher-ups, who in turn did essentially nothing, allowing Sandusky to continue abusing children for years. The predatory activities by Sandusky weren’t missed. They were buried. Paterno, who for all intents and purposes was the most powerful person on the Penn State campus, failed to follow up, failed to do what any person who really cared about children would have done. Penn State’s football program was given precedence over defenseless children, and a child predator was given free rein to continue his despicable activities.

Corman wasn’t the only one trying to paint the settlement as a victory for the university and the memory of the sainted Joe Paterno. One longtime Pittsburgh sports columnist who now runs a popular blog on a Pittsburgh newspaper website trumpeted Penn State and Paterno had been “vindicated.” Please. According to the dictionary, being vindicated means one has been “cleared of accusation, blame, suspicion or doubt, with supporting arguments or proof.” That’s not even close to what has happened with the university and its late coach.

And, of course, the Paterno family chimed in with its latest statement, saying the NCAA’s initial punishment “was a grievously wrong action, precipitated by panic, rather than a thoughtful and careful examination of the facts.” We would reply that even a cursory examination of the facts in 2001 should have led someone – like, say, Joe Paterno – to see to it that police were notified about Sandusky’s sex crimes.

Michael Boni, an attorney who represented one of Sandusky’s young victims, said it’s regrettable Paterno has been reinstalled as major-college football’s winningest coach.

“He did a world of good, but he made a huge, huge error in judgment in helping cover up Sandusky’s pedophilia, and even posthumously I think that has to be recognized,” said Boni.

Unfortunately, too many people at and associated with Penn State seem all too willing to forget the reason why Paterno was fired and several former Penn State leaders are awaiting trial. There’s even talk of pulling Paterno’s statue out of mothballs and putting it back up at the football stadium.

Forgive and forget? If only the shattered lives of the unknown number of children preyed upon by Jerry Sandusky could be so easily fixed.