Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new job

When will these guys learn? Didn't he take anything from the Mendy situation just this past year? I guess not...



http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/b ... aaf-wp9995

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

This is no where close to what Mendy did. mendy defended a terrorist responsible for thouands of deaths. Paterno is a scapegoat and (as like the Ben situation with the rape accusation) he is not charged with any crimes. The grand jury report does not list anything that is not considered a criminal accusation on Sandusky -- it is not a complete document of the investigation (by nature) and only containd the 'damning' evidence. Everything else has been assumption by the media based on emotions. It is terrible that Franco is let go because his opinion is not the typical knee-jerk reaction that is unsubstantiated by real facts at this time.

The way many here are acting concerning this, you should have thrown Ben under the bus after those accusations as well.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

this whole Penn State thing just doesnt smell right.

until we get the whole story i hve no idea what to think.

if Sandusky did do what he is accused of then he is a monster and his day will come. the stories are all over the place right now. McQueary is saying he did tell the police. now the police are saying he didnt.

we have no idea what Paterno knew or was told. we kind of know that McQuea and his dad told him something and then Paterno told his boss, but after that is where is gets ify.

when it comes to hurting kids, you should always take the side of the kid until the truth is told. im sure Sandusky is guilty of something, but to what extent we dont know yet.

Franco should have just said its a sad situation and then moved on. again, when it comes to kids being hurt the only thing people want to hear is sympathy for the kids.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

How long before the statue in the airport of Franco and Immaculate Reception is gone?

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

Thank you for saving me some typing.

Mendenhall didn't defend a terrorist, he expressed displeasure at everyone else's happy dances over the terrorist's death. But I'm not fully defending Mendenhall for two reasons:

1. He did not need to say anything or express those obviously controversial feelings. He brought it on himself. However, you can say that about any tweet ever tweeted ever. :this: is why I don't tweet.
2. Although I don't fully agree with him, I definitely understand his point of view, and so I respect it enough at least to not ask him to leave the country, or (worse!) be cut from the team. I was quite taken aback by all the celebrations on the streets, looking like America just won the World Series (also in this scenario, America cares about baseball). I didn't know what kinds of reactions to expect from people, but I didn't expect that. It was surprising, and it made me feel uneasy.

So what did Mendenhall really do? He tweeted. What did that tweet do? It upset people like you, America-loving NFL and Steeler fans (not that many other people even ever heard about it). So he hurt some feelings and started some message board threads. Did anyone get hurt? Did the terrorists get some extra funding we know about? Unless he's secretly sending his paychecks to Al Qaeda, I really don't see how this extends beyond feelings.

What did Joe Paterno do? You call him a scapegoat, which would mean he did little or nothing wrong. For me, all I need to know is that he knew about a child rapist in his workplace, reported it to his supervisors, let enough time go by to see that clearly nothing happened, and then just let it go. He let it continue. It's because of Joe Paterno and the rest of the people that could have easily put a stop to child rape but chose not to, that kids continued to be raped. No matter what the law says, Joe Paterno looked the other way on child rape. He let it continue, and he did it for years. If you want to continue defending him, you're right to compare child rape to mass murder, which is one of the only things that makes child rape look like possibly not the absolute worst thing in the universe. But you should compare him to Osama bin Laden, not Rashard Mendenhall.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

I Have kept out of this until I heard enough evidence and had time to sort it out according to my own sensibilities. Defending Paterno or Penn State in any of this is indefensible. As far as I have learned, Paterno hired the athletic director at Penn State, that's how powerful he is there. So let's stop saying he reported it to his "superior" because in that school and among college coaches he is the superior. Then, allowing Sanduski to remain on the staff, in the facilities with more children over all these years among multiple allegations is unacceptable. He's just like the catholic church in all of this. And Mcquery working with this guy after what he saw is disgusting. All he cared about was his career. He looked the other way just to keep a job. I couldn't work in organization and talk to a man who I KNEW was having sex with CHILDREN! Paterno's nick name was JOE PA for cryin out loud. He was not protecting youth.

Mendy was stupid in saying "we don't know what happened" or something stupid like that. I might not agree in this case but i absolutely understand anyone who was upset seeing people celebrating the murder or death of another person. Regardless of what the other person has done. My girlfriend is a person who was disturbed by that on TV. I know that displeasure comes from a good place.

Franco should have thought about this before. Maybe he even did. He wanted to defend someone he knew, that's fine. But, I don't feel bad that he lost his job because of what his job actually was. He was a publicity representative for this company. In that roll you have to consider everything you do because you are hired to publicly represent them. That's the gig!

It has nothing to do with America. He wasn't working for the government. I'm sure he signed papers upon hire with a lawyer or an agent covering this. He made a decision to back up his coach and friend. I don't feel bad for him and I venture to bet he he feels good about standing up even is he knows Joe was wrong.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

You took the entire thing out of context -- I was comparing FRANCO HARRIS to MENDY. I think Franco is entitled to have the opinion that a person in the US who did not actually commit any crime and it is unknow what he actually knew concerning second hand information of a crime, should not be basically conviced prior to a thorough investigation and we know the real deal.

If Sandusky actually did what he is being accused of, I am all for execution for that type of hanus act. (and I believe 100% he is certainly guilty of something, to what extent I do not know). If Joe actually covered something of this nature up, then I am all for whatever actions are legally taken against him.

What I am against is convicting people (in the media) without knowledge of the facts.

So you basically think Franco Harris should be fired for having an opinion that Joe should not have been fired until the facts are known. Glad you are not in charge of our legal system, or we would be punishing everyone based on your emotional opinion. Fire everyone who does not see things the same as you -- due process be damned!

If anyone who defended Ben supports the actions against Paterno, they are a hipocrit.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

Again, I was comparing Franco harris to Mendenhall.
So what did Franco really do??????
Basically same as Mendy.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

I don't agree with Franco ... People are not blaming the football program, they are blaming the people who knew about this and did next to nothing about it. Those handful of people just happen to be apart of the football program.

In Paterno's own statement, he even said that he should have done more than just reporting this to his higher ups.

Did he break the law, no, but there is no way Penn State can have Paterno associated with it's football program. A person with any type or moral fiber would have made sure this was reported to the police.

As stated above, this was not the first time Sandusky was reported for acting inappropriate with children at Penn State, they covered it up to save face. IMO that is the major reason they fought so hard to get exempt from the Open Records Law, even though they receive state funds.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

Well then I apologize. After re-reading your post, it still looks to me like you were comparing Paterno to Mendenhall. You did say he was a scapegoat, which sounds to me like you know something the rest of us don't.

As for Harris, I don't know what his job was. But if it's like oldschool says, he was a PR guy, then he absolutely deserved to lose it. Of course, just like Mendenhall, he has every right as a citizen to say his beliefs. But if his whole job is to represent a company, then he has to not make it look like they support someone who supports Joe Paterno -- who most of the public now considers to be a child rape enabler -- to that degree. He probably could have said he'll support his friend in his time of need. To say he shouldn't have been fired is to say that knowingly allowing child molestation (allegedly) is not a firable offense. That makes his company look bad. He failed at his job. That's why he was fired. Just like Hank Williams, Jr. No company wants a spokesperson who is hated by the public, whether the hate is deserved or not.

If Mendenhall was the Steelers' PR guy, he'd have been fired. But he's our running back, so instead they just told him to please shut up. I would still rather have a guy with wacky political views than a guy who hurts the team in a real way, like by being a bad teammate or bad player. Actually, now that I think about it, I think Mendy was fired from his job with Champion, wasn't he?

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

Same here. I basically considered bin Laden to be the "winner" of our fight because he'd murdered thousands of us and gotten away for what, 9 years? And his living conditions were on par with many Americans'. It was hard for me to get "in your face" about it when I felt like he was winning every day he was alive, which was a lot of days. I was thrilled, but I still felt like we lost. We are supposed to be capable of getting a guy like that somewhat quickly, not to mention stopping him in the first place. Seeing the people celebrate reminded me of Johnnie Morton and the rest of the Lions acting like they won the Super Bowl after their first win of the season after starting 0-8 or whatever. Yeah, good for you. About time.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

I love this....the Janitor, all the other janitors, the supervisor, parents and a whole lot of other people besides Paterno had an opportunity to act. Fire them all from their jobs and smear them in the media.

The problem I have is most people keep saying how he was all powerful. He was not, has everyone forgotten how they've been trying to push him out for years? The only reason he was still there was his popularity by everyone including outside the organization and their fear of looking like they were committing ageism. The opportunity showed itself and they wasted no time in using it. Joe knows what he was told and what his actions were and he'll live with that, but there is no question that the people in he who shall not be named youth organization should have done something way sooner.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

Franco Is a good man. He is loyal and honorable. He is standing up for someone that he respects. I am a Penn Stater. I don't agree with Franco's opinion. Paterno had to go because it happened on his watch, regardless of what he knew or didn't know. But I don't fault him for his opinion and neither should you.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

The board came to Paterno twice trying to fire him. He said no, I'll leave when I am ready. Paterno ran Penn State.[/quote:29dg8qq2]

How do you get that he ran Penn State from that? That's the only power had. He knew he was the figurehead and they couldn't fire him without cause.....they got their cause. Most older guys that have been in a profession for years fear that if they lose it, that's the end. He was holding on as long as his popularity status allowed him to.

What is clear is that the other 2 fellows knew about the pedophile in 1998 and allowed him to continue with privileges on campus. There's a reason those 2 are indicted. I say that I'm more angry at the lawyer (who worked for PSU and the youth group) the 2 indicted people and several figures in the groups leadership. If there's a youth group for disadvantaged kids and know there's that situation there, where is your real motivation? It definitely isn't to "help" the kids!

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

The board came to Paterno twice trying to fire him. He said no, I'll leave when I am ready. Paterno ran Penn State.[/quote:2zmcwa3h]

You made this claim the other day and I am not so sure about it. From comments made by other Steelers fans on the old board about Penn State and some of the players both current and former is sounds like there is more going on there than is made public in the media. If even half of it is true with the drinking partying and wild life that some have described I think that Joe had really begun to lose touch with his players and the young people in general. Wasn't two years ago that they had some of the seniors who did something that didn't sit well with Joe so he made the whole team clean the stadium after a game for the charity that was suppose to do it. At 74 I don't know how much influence he had over his players beyond the football field now at 84 I really think there was a disconnect as well. Again since I live some 1100 or more miles away so I can't speak for Penn State. I do live in a college town where hockey players are treated like gods and can be busted for underage drinking and arrested for being minors in a bar and they can claim they are innocent and be released because we need them to compete for a title.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

I would like some of you to tell me what do you think a person could do in a similar situation? Lets set the coach of a legendary college football team thing aside and just look at it from normal person point of view. Now before i get blasted here I am not defending Joe at all cost, I am simply asking some questions. We have two separate incidents of child abuse neither witnessed by Joe. In both cases he did not know the victim and with out a victim it then becomes the witnesses word against the accused. In these cases it is incredible hard to get the victim to step forward because of the stigma attached with such attacks and the feelings of shame and so forth. They almost have to have at least one victim willing to talk and press charges to get the ball rolling and to help encourage others to step forward. So at this point you have Joe telling his employer what was told to him. He did not witness any act himself. His employer assures him they will look into it. Now what? If he waits a week and asks again and they tell him again it is being handled what should he do? Many of you have said he should have put a stop to it. To what exactly? Joe did not physically witness anything it is not like he could run down the hall and body-slam Sandusky down to the ground thus saving the child. At this point his employer has told the former employee not to use the facilities.

Many of you are saying he should have gone to the police. Alerting the police would be a good move but again without a victim or corroborating evidence it is going to be tough to prove. Still none of it gets the results some of you are looking for. Yes ok now He is Joe Paterno and if he goes to the police based just on who he is they are going to look into it. Will there be enough in 2002 to do something about Sandusky? I simply don't know. By now the evidence is pretty damning but this has been gathered for how long?

I guess my point here is while we are all plenty horrified at this whole deal I just don't know what we should expect from someone who was not directly witnessing the crimes. Sure Joe was in a position of authority but then again so were other people who were involved. The head of the campus police, the head of building services or maintenance who I am sure had the janitors report to them. So should we hold him ultimately responsible for no other reason than because of who he is? I just don't know. So many mistakes by so many people.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

I think it was a cover up as well but not for the same reasons. I think initially this had nothing to do with protecting Joe's legacy or the image of Penn State or even the negligence that was displayed as this began to evolve. I think at least in my opinion that they tried to cover it up in order to keep parents and students from losing confidence in the school. What I mean is you look at the situation currently and you have parents who are unsure about sending their college age kids there. You had Kirk Herbstreet make the statement that he has young boys and when they grew up and if they wanted to play football at Penn State he wouldn't let them. So because of Sandusky's actions people are deciding that one of the best schools in the country is not a viable option for a higher education. That a university with one of the highest graduation rates for student athletes. That is what I think they were trying to protect and then it got too big to hide any more

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

I definitely am not singling out Paterno, but he's the one we're talking about. He's the one everybody talks about.

EVERYONE who knew about these kids getting raped and didn't report it to the police is responsible for letting it continue. I understand starting out with your boss, and that's fine, but once a cover up starts, people who know need to turn into whistleblowers and call the police. Whether Joe's bosses were in charge or Joe was in charge doesn't matter. One of them might deserve more blame than the other, but they all deserve blame and they all deserve to lose their jobs. There is no excuse for not reporting what happened, even if you feel like you might unfairly lose your job (which would not have happened. If someone had reported it they'd be a hero). But even if you're paranoid about that, a child's right to not be raped should come before your concern for your job.

Paterno is just one of many in the same boat. But he's the famous one.

 

Re: Franco Harris stands by his old coach, and loses his new

It's simple, just do your part .. You report it to the Administration, you report it to the police ... Give them the opportunity to do their part. You don't need to prove their case or try to determine if charges can be filed.