This past Friday marked the fourth anniversary of the Joe Paterno statue being removed from Beaver Stadium.
Exactly two weeks ago, we learned that the heinous, repulsive crimes of Jerry Sandusky were brought to the attention of Paterno as far back as 1976!
In light of these revelations, there is still remains a movement to restore the Paterno statue to the place it once occupied outside the cathedral of Penn State football. On July 5th, the public was made aware of the petition, signed by over 200 former Penn State football players, to re-install the Paterno monument at Beaver Stadium.
What Sandusky did and Paterno was made well aware of continues to cast a dark shadow over the program.
Getting back to the specific subject of the Paterno statue possibly being re-installed in Happy Valley, none of the three Penn State football players attending Big Ten Media Days in Chicago: Center Brian Gaia, Linebacker Brandon Bell and Linebacker Nyeem Wartman-White, stated that they would actually be against it.
“It’d be cool to see the statue come back, there’s a lot of people that love Coach Paterno, I love Coach Paterno, so if it comes back it’s awesome,” said Gaia before he added “if it doesn’t, it’s not the end of the world.”
“One of the very first things I did when I came up my first summer, before it got taken down, was me and my roommate took a picture with it.”
Bell fully backs the movement to revive the monument.
He didn’t say whether he himself believes the statue should or should not be restored, but he wholeheartedly supports the idea of the movement fighting for this cause.
“I think it’s great. You’re proud of the school you went to, and want the best for it,” Bell said.
“People are proud of Paterno, they’re proud of what they did at Penn State, so why not fight for what you love?”
Bell doesn’t believe the lettermen will ever quit until they reach their goal.
“As long as it’s not brought back, it’ll be a controversy, I don’t think they’ll stop the fight to bring it back.”
Penn State football coach James Franklin does not see the Paterno “debate” or “controversy” going away any time soon. He is also very disinterested in discussing the topic.
As for Wartman-White, he simply claimed total ignorance of the issue.
“To be honest with you, I have no clue, I am not educated on it,” he responded.
“I might see the headline of something, but I never read the articles of stuff that happened recently, new information that came out. I have no opinion on it, I’m a Comm Major.”
Wartman-White seemingly used the skills that he’s learning in his PSU communications classes to avoid answering the question. Also, one struggles to understand his stated belief- that being a communications major means it’s perfectly okay to be totally disinterested in acquiring information on local current events.
You’d think it would be just the opposite; Comm majors would be more interested in what’s going on in their world.
Franklin would also rather discuss different topics.
“These things are going to be going on for a number of years and my focus needs to be on the things that I can control and that’s not one of them,” Franklin responded to a query about the statue revival movement.
“For me, answering questions about things that happened 40 years ago, when I was four years old, I don’t know necessarily is the best use of my time, or others, to be honest with you.”
Franklin was asked if the PSU lettermen crusading for the statue’s return have reached out to him, in order to seek support.
The Coach indicated that his position prohibits him from choosing a side.
“There’s not really that type of interaction, obviously we’re aware, as a coach, and my administration is aware, I have former players on my staff, there’s always awareness of what is going on, but that is not something that we can get involved with. “
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram
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