Paterno's Son Talks Sandusky Scandal, Restoring Father's Image
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Joe Paterno's son is now talking about his family's fight to clear his late father's name following the child sex abuse scandal surrounding Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
Jay Paterno recently invited KDKA-TV Sports to his State College home for an hour-long interview.
Here is a portion of the Q&A:
KDKA-TV Sports: How do you think the rollout of the Paterno family report has gone?
Jay Paterno: "I think it's been effective. I think it's opened some eyes of people. And I think it's corrected the narrative. In some of the interviews we've done, some of the people, all of a sudden, they're aware of some facts they weren't aware of previous to this report coming out; and as long as we continue that discussion then it's good. And I think one of the other things that came out with these reports are in Jim Clemente's report, he's the FBI profiler, there are a lot of things that a lot of people can use to look for these kind of predators and offenders in their own communities. Because they operate right in front of us, as I can attest to that."
KDKA-TV Sports: What did you expect out of the Freeh Report?
Jay Paterno: "We expected it to be an honest assessment of what happened. And were very disappointed. I met with the Freeh people, it was close to two hours, and most of the questions were not about Jerry Sandusky or how this happened. It was mostly about Joe Paterno, Graham Spanier, Tim Curley, those kind of things. And I left that meeting, that interview which they did not tape -- all they did was take notes -- I left that meeting and I figured for $6.5 million for this report, I had hoped they could buy a tape recorder or two to at least tape it and make sure they're accurate. But also I left that meeting saying I'm not sure what they're really getting at here. And when I read the report, I was heartened by the fact that there was no evidence to support their conclusions."
KDKA-TV Sports: Do you sense any backlash? I think a lot of people, when it [the Paterno Report] was billed as something that can kind of help victims or future victims… that that might have been lost in the Paterno family's goal of trying to clear Joe's name?
Jay Paterno: "Well, we've tried to push everything. And one of the things that we've tried to make sure that… we didn't set out to commission these reports to clear Joe's name. We told our lawyers hire the best people you can get and tell them to take it wherever the truth takes it.
Jay Paterno: "My dad, all he ever said was, 'We just want the truth.' And that's all he was concerned about. He didn't say, 'commission a report to clear me. He said, 'Get the truth.' And that's the more important thing. And whatever it is, it is, but I know what kind of man my father was, so I have no fear about what the truth will bring."
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