Death of a Salesman

Penn State didn’t have the book thrown at them on Monday morning.

It was more like the Encyclopedia Britannica.

And it is certain to leave quite the mark on a once storied football program:

• $60 Million Fine
• Four-Year Post-Season Ban
• Lose 40+ Football Scholarships
• Five years probation
• All wins vacated 1998-2011

Definitely not in that order.

Let’s be clear here.

The NCAA is sending one giant message.

Joe Paterno is a loser.

Oh sure, all of the other stuff will cripple a football program that was once considered one of the best.

And one of the cleanest.

But the poster-child for these penalties will be one Joseph Vincent Paterno.

And even though he died the winningest coach in college football history.

He won’t rest that way.

History books can be changed.

And Monday morning they were.

111 wins wiped away from Penn State.

111 wins wiped away from Joe Paterno.

And with those wins no longer there, Paterno’s claim to fame is no longer a claim at all.

Joe Paterno is not the winningest coach in college football history.

He is the biggest loser.

The NCAA put the final nail in his coffin on Monday.

Erasing a man’s legacy.

Whatever was left of it.

His alma mater, Brown University, had already taken his name off a prestigious award.

Nike did the same with their child care center.

And after a debate more talked about than health care reform.

Penn State finally decided to tear down a statue of their former leader.

Saddam style.

When we first learned that the NCAA had finally reached a verdict on how they would penalize the university.

The punishment was called “unprecedented.”

Monday morning they didn’t disappoint.

Handing down penalties that will destroy the past, present and most definitely the future of Penn State Football.

The NCAA is sending a message that for 14 years Pennsylvania State University harbored an abuser.

Oh not Jerry Sandusky.

Although he will pay a price too.

A hefty price.

Behind bars.

The message here is that even though the actions of Sandusky are among the most heinous we could imagine.

It was Paterno who committed the ultimate crime.

Looking the other way while his friend was molesting young boys.

Protecting a criminal to avoid bad publicity for his castle.

Pretending there is no fire, while his friend is burning down the lives of dozens of innocent victims.

And when the kitchen got too hot.

Paterno took the easy way out.

He died.

There was some talk that Penn State football might too get the death penalty.

That’s where the school gets banned from competing in a sport for at least one year.

But according to most of the so-called experts, what they got was far worse.

Instead of killing the victim.

The NCAA is letting them suffer.

Sandusky style.

Paterno may no longer be with us, supposedly he’s in a better place.

But anytime his name is mentioned in the future, there will be no mention of anything he’s done on a football field.

No mention of the undefeated season in 1968.

Or 1969.

Or the one in 1973.

Or the one in 1986.

Or the one in 1994.

No mention of the national championship in 1983.

Or the one four years later.

Nobody will remember the 409 wins.

Or the 111 that were taken away.

Joe Paterno will be remembered for one thing.

His biggest loss.

And that’s the way it should be.