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| Joe Paterno and the accused pederast Jerry Sandusky. |
A few days ago,
Brian Jennings, the long snapper for the 49ers, was on his weekly radio show on KNBR.
The show is on earlier than I'm usually in my car, so I never hear it, but the hosts rave about his eloquence, his sense of humor and the fact that he's loved by his coaches.
This week, they couldn't stop talking about what Jennings had to say about the
Penn State scandal, calling it the best thing they've ever had said on their show because of how important and eloquent it was.
I finally got a chance to read and hear his words, and I think they are worth sharing with anyone who has a chance to do likewise.
Please read it. If you can and would like, you
can also listen here.
"I feel pretty strongly about this and I’ll try not to go off on too
much of a tangent because it’s a big deal. I thought of this quote last
night from Edmund Burke. It says the only thing necessary for evil to
flourish is for good men to do nothing. When you look at Joe Paterno, I
believe he's a good man, right? And I believe the athletic director is a
good man. And the primary emphasis of the outrage should be directed at
the perpetrator of these crimes. But at the same time, when you have
the opportunity to stop something like this, you have to intervene. You
have to.
"It's such a powerful thing because there are a few things that I
pray for, and it's not to live a pain-free life or to be rich or to live
150 years or whatever. I don’t pray for that stuff. I pray that nothing
bad happens to my family, I pray that I live my life with a certain
level of honor and that in that moment when I were in a position that I
see something going on that isn’t just a crime against our law, it’s not
just a crime against humanity -- this is an evil thing that happened --
that I have the courage right then and the wisdom right now to take
action.
"Whoever saw that, that young man that saw that, he was scared to
death. He has been scared to death every day since. I don’t want to live
with that. I would rather die in the fight than live with not doing
anything. That is what I pray for. That is what I pray for all the time.
"I would invite your listeners right now, everybody listening to
this, if you know of childhood abuse that is happening, pick up your
phone right now and call 9-1-1 and report it. Say, 'You know what, I
know a child that is being sexually abused,' and say his name. Just do
it right now.
"Everything else will take care of itself. But this cannot be
silent. You cannot let this happen and just let it ride. That’s on a
religious level. That is on a spiritual level. That is your relationship
with your Creator. Good vs. evil. And then when you get into college,
you know, now we’re talking about a coach in charge of young men. A
coach who is in charge of young men is in a unique position of
authority. It is very much like a parent or an adopted parent, maybe, or
something like that.
"In a very real way, I give credit to my coaches and teammates for
raising me into the man that I am today. And I appreciate that in a very
positive way. For them (at Penn State) to betray and to not take care
of those kids is absolutely a huge tragedy. Furthermore, not only should
they be fired – everyone should be fired, everyone should be criminally
charged – it is an amateur sport, their season should be suspended,
every win from the moment Joe Paterno knew about this, every game that
he has been a part of should be stricken from the record. He cannot be
held as the standard. It’s over.
"It only takes one thing to ruin it all. And that is what I pray
for, right? What do you do to not let one thing ruin everything? This is
that one thing for him. It’s over.
"
Nicely said. What a horrorshow.
