The Blame Game

I have this friend.

Really.

Real person.

And two days ago I found out that this friend has a friend.

And this friend is a friend of a guy.

A guy who has been involved with major college football for a LONG time.

Well about five years ago, this friend (of a friend of a friend) was looking to hire someone for a job.

That someone was Jerry Sandusky.

Yes, THAT Jerry Sandusky.

Well this friend wanted to know more about Sandusky.

So he spoke with an assistant coach at Penn State.

Mike McQueary.

Yes, THAT Mike McQueary.

And in 2006 when McQueary was asked about Sandusky he responded that “(Sandusky) likes little boys.”

Yada yada yada.

Sandusky didn’t get the job.

If you haven’t figured out by now, my blog is not the New York Times.

And I don’t have two sources for what I just wrote.

And yes, it is possible that some of my t’s where not dotted.

And my i’s were not crossed.

Or whatever.

But here’s the point....

In 2006, according to my source, Mike McQueary was contacted to be a reference for Jerry Sandusky.

2006.

Four years after McQueary stumbled across Sandusky in a Penn State shower.

Molesting a boy.

A boy McQueary thought was 10-years-old.

His testimony, not mine.

And this background check came four years after McQueary didn’t tell the police about what he saw.

According to the police, not me.

But in 2006, McQueary didn’t hesitate to tell a man on the other end of the phone that Sandusky “likes little boys.”

It makes me wonder how many other people McQueary might’ve told.

Other than the police.

AFTER THE FACT.

It makes me wonder how many other people might’ve known.

BUT DID NOTHING ABOUT IT.

It makes me wonder how many other people might’ve decided to let Sandusky run free.

AND CONTINUE TO ABUSE INNOCENT CHILDREN.

Mike McQueary is a football player at heart.

Back in the day, he was the starting quarterback at Penn State.

And football players are tough.

But it has to be eating away at McQueary that he let a child molester get away with this crime.

Crimes.

At least I hope it does.

How many innocent victims could he have saved?

If he just would’ve broken that code of -- what happens in a Penn State shower stays in a Penn State shower.

Clearly McQueary wasn’t afraid to talk about what he saw.

He just didn’t talk to the right people.

He talked to his dad.

He talked to Paterno.

He talked to the school’s athletic director.

And VP of business and finance.

And none of them told the true authorities.

And if he was willing to tell someone four years after the fact, how many other people did he tell along the way.

I guess he was hoping someone else would take the ball and run with it.

You know, the football mentality. 

When I heard this news a few days ago, it made me wonder how this friend (of a friend x2) felt.

Guilty would be my guess.

Guilty would be my hope.

He found out in 2006 that Jerry Sandusky “likes little boys” and he did nothing about it.

Nothing.

Like so many others.

What would you have done?

That’s easy to say now.

When I first heard of the McQueary shower observation, I tried putting myself in his shoes.

Ok.

I’m 28... grad assistant at Penn State... trying to start a career... at 9:30pm on the night of March 1, 2002 -- I walk into the Lasch Football Building to drop off some gym shoes... I see a grown man doing things to a young boy that no one would believe.

And they really wouldn’t believe it when I see that it’s Sandusky, the longtime Penn State assistant coach.

I stand there long enough to watch what the man is doing.

Or how else would I really know what is happening.

Then I leave.

Maybe I tried to stop it.

Maybe not.

But I pass this info onto Paterno, the legend.

The 75-year-old living legend (and 40-year friend of Sandusky).

Done.

I’ve done my part.

Go Lions!

For nine years I remain silent.

Publicly.

For nine years I let Sandusky run free.

Free as a pedophiliac bird.

And for nine years I get to be a coach on the Penn State staff.

Living the dream.

All while a nightmare is living inside of me.

Don’t get me wrong, Mike McQueary is not the victim here.

Not by any stretch of the imagination.

Any.

But knowing what we all know now it’s very easy for any of us to play monday morning quarterback.

Shoulda, coulda....

I just wish one person woulda.