Jenkins: Paterno Doesn't 'Excuse His Behavior'
(WSCR) Joe Paterno has said very little publicly since the release of the 23-page grand jury report alleging that former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused boys during his time with the university.
Paterno granted his first public interview since the allegations that ultimately let do his ouster to Sally Jenkin's of the Washington Post.
Some of Paterno's greatest critics have complained that he didn't do enough when former graduate assistant Mike McQueary told him he had seen Sandusky doing something "of sexual nature" with a boy in the Penn State showers.
"I think that what you hear in Joe Paterno's words and in his voice is you hear a guy who is still trying to square up his actions in his own mind and understand why he did what he did, and why he didn't do what he didn't do," Jenkins told The Mully and Hanley Show on Tuesday. "You either find that human and understandable, or you find it to be evasive.
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"Joe Paterno doesn't entirely excuse his behavior -- I should add that. He said, 'I should have done more' and 'I should have asked more questions.' It's the 'Why didn't you?' question that I tried to bear down on and that's where his answers really start wondering into this, 'Ya know, I really was just so paralyzed by the subject.'"
After Sandusky retired from the university, he was allowed to use the campus work out facilities. It was in those facilities where some of the sexual assult took place, according to the grand jury report.
"The question on Jerry Sandusky's access to the Penn State facilities, that's one place where (Paterno's) lawyer actually stepped in," Jenkins said. "I was relieved that they didn't step in more, but the lawyer stepped in and basically said, 'Look, those were the terms of Jerry Sandusky's retirement contract.' Penn State, as an administration, gave him access to those facilities. It was a contractual deal. It was not granted by Joe Paterno."
