Former USC Football Player Writes About the NCAA's Sanctions Against PENN State
Diana,
Great article and
I agree that the NCAA finally showed what should truly be important
at colleges across the country. While there is a question as to whether
Joe Paterno was certain these acts actually took place, I agree that
Sandusky should have been fired and barred from the campus long ago.
I will say this as well; the janitor should have walked into the police station
and reported what he saw directly to the authorities. Hiding behind the
perceived threat of being terminated and blaming the "football
culture" shouldn't obscure what is the right thing to do, especially when
it involves children. There will be more money and wins down the road but
what these victims lost can never be replaced!
I'd like to think I have a unique
understanding about all this as a former college player.
Sometimes we pay for the sins of our fathers and friends that went before us. This has always been how the NCAA works (just look at the recent USC sanctions with Reggie Bush & other schools). Besides, the players can immediately transfer without sitting out a year as they normally would.
As far as the students go:
1. I hope they didn't chose to attend their college based only on how well their team plays (or if it is bowl-eligible).
2. Some things, especially like this, are more important than a game and force all of us to take a step back a right the ship.
The "leaders" of their school put them in this position over money and image (which ties back to money) so now it was time to send a message that college isn't all about big time athletics and that gravy train. You should know the President of the Penn State University signed off on these sanctions before they were announced which leads me to believe he felt it was time to take our medicine and move forward.
Sometimes we pay for the sins of our fathers and friends that went before us. This has always been how the NCAA works (just look at the recent USC sanctions with Reggie Bush & other schools). Besides, the players can immediately transfer without sitting out a year as they normally would.
As far as the students go:
1. I hope they didn't chose to attend their college based only on how well their team plays (or if it is bowl-eligible).
2. Some things, especially like this, are more important than a game and force all of us to take a step back a right the ship.
The "leaders" of their school put them in this position over money and image (which ties back to money) so now it was time to send a message that college isn't all about big time athletics and that gravy train. You should know the President of the Penn State University signed off on these sanctions before they were announced which leads me to believe he felt it was time to take our medicine and move forward.
Shawn Talbott -- a former USC
center/long snapper
