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Bernie Smilovitz: Joe Paterno goes from saint to sinner

Bernie Smilovitz (WDIV)

DETROIT – Joe Paterno was the ultimate saint.

The moral fabric of college football. St. Joe could do no wrong. He was hailed as a savior in a sea of sludge. College football is a dirty business but Paterno and his Penn State program stood out above the rest.

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Then it happened.

The shine came off much faster than it went on. His former defensive coordinator charged in a child sex abuse scandal. But what did this have to do with Paterno? Plenty! He knew as far back as 2002 and maybe earlier that this monster existed. And he barely did anything to stop him. Paterno did the minimum when he alerted his boss to what a graduate assistant had seen with his own eyes.

But that was it.

There was no followup. There was no confrontation. What is it about a 10-year-old boy in the shower with a grown man having sex that doesn't make every ounce of your body want to jump up and scream?! But Paterno didn't. He allowed the abuse to continue for another nine years!

And now the end is near.

Not for the boys who were abused. They will have to live with the scars for the rest of their lives.

Not for Penn State which will clean house and start over.

But the end is near for Joe Paterno . Saint Joe. Say it ain't so Joe. Please don't tell us you did nothing when you could have stopped this injustice.

Sadly that's just what you did. Your moral character -- impeccable throughout your life -- has now been destroyed at the age of 84. Ultimately it is your lack of moral character that will cost you your job -- and your legacy.

But then again, maybe that's the way this was always going to end.

Bernie Smilovitz