Paterno retiring amid child abuse "tragedy"

(CBS/AP) 

Updated at 6:43 p.m.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Joe Paterno, the Penn State football coach who preached success with honor for half a century but whose legend was shattered by a child sex abuse scandal, said Wednesday he will retire at the end of this season.

Paterno said he was "absolutely devastated" by the case, in which his onetime heir apparent, Jerry Sandusky, has been charged with molesting eight boys in 15 years, including at the Penn State football complex.

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He said he hoped the team could finish its season with "dignity and determination."

The school's board of trustees could still force Paterno to leave immediately. It also could take action against the university president, Graham Spanier.

One emeritus trustee who was on a conference call with the board Tuesday told CBS News, "The tone of last night's call was of concern for all the people involved, including the children, the coach and the reputation of the school."

He said that there was no conversation on the call pushing for Paterno's dismissal, but did not know whether the Executive Board had that discussion.

Paterno said the trustees, who had been considering his fate, should "not spend a single minute discussing my status" and have more important matters to address.

The 84-year-old Paterno has been engulfed by outrage that he did not take more action after a graduate assistant, Mike McQueary, came to him in 2002 and reported seeing Sandusky in the Penn State showers with a 10-year-old boy. Paterno notified the athletic director, Tim Curley, and a vice president, Gary Schultz.

Penn St. scandal dwarfs others in college sports

Curley and Schultz have since been charged with failing to report the incident to the authorities. Paterno hasn't been accused of legal wrongdoing. But he has been assailed, in what the state police commissioner called a lapse of "moral responsibility," for not doing more to stop Sandusky.

The U.S. Department of Education said late Wednesday that it was launching an investigation into Penn State's handling of the abuse.

"This is a tragedy," Paterno said in a statement. "It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

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Paterno met with his coaching staff and players in the football building at Penn State for about 10-15 minutes Wednesday in what was described as a very emotional session. Standing at a podium, Paterno told them he was leaving and broke down in tears.

Players gave him a standing ovation when he walked out.

Junior quarterback Stephon Morris said some players also were nearly in tears as Paterno spoke.

"I still can't believe it," Morris said. "I've never seen Coach Paterno like that in my life."

Asked what was the main message of Paterno's talk, Morris said: "Beat Nebraska."

The decision to retire by the man affectionately known as "Joe Pa" brings to an end one of the most storied coaching careers, not just in college football but in all of sports. Paterno won 409 games, a record for major college football, and is in the middle of his 46th year as coach.

His figure patrolling the sideline — thick-rimmed glasses and windbreaker, tie and khaki pants — was as unmistakable at Penn State as its classic blue and white uniforms and the name Happy Valley, a place where no one came close to Paterno's stature.

The retirement announcement came three days before Penn State hosts Nebraska in its final home game of the season, a day set aside to honor seniors on the team.

Penn State has bounced back from a mediocre 2010 season to go 8-1 this year, with its only loss to powerhouse Alabama. The Nittany Lions are No. 12 in the AP college football poll.

After 19th-ranked Nebraska, Penn State plays at Ohio State and at No. 16 Wisconsin, both Big Ten rivals. It has a chance to play in the Big Ten championship game Dec. 3, with a Rose Bowl bid on the line.

In the statement, Paterno said: "I grieve for the children and their families, and I pray for their comfort and relief."

He went on: "I have come to work every day for the last 61 years with one clear goal in mind: To serve the best interests of this university and the young men who have been entrusted to my care. I have the same goal today."

A day earlier, Paterno had showed up for practice and adoring crowds rallied outside his modest home into the night, chanting his name.

But Paterno, whose football program bore the motto "Success with Honor," could not withstand the backlash from a scandal that goes well beyond the everyday stories of corruption in college sports.

"If this is true, we were all fooled, along with scores of professionals trained in such things, and we grieve for the victims and their families," Paterno said in a statement Sunday. "They are in our prayers."

Sandusky, who retired from Penn State in June 1999, maintained his innocence through his lawyer.

Paterno has defended his decision to take the news to Curley and Schultz. Paterno said it was obvious that the graduate student, since identified as McQueary, was "distraught," but said he was not told about the "very specific actions" of the sexual assault in the grand jury report.

After Paterno reported the incident to Curley, Sandusky was told to stay away from the school. But critics say Paterno should have done more.

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[fairyofsherwood]

I really have an issue with McQueary! What kind of person would witness the rape of a child (or anyone) and simply walk away?????, I know, someone who wants to be a Penn State Football coach! Any real man would have kicked the snot out of Sandusky and helped the child! McQueary MUST go, he should have gone BEFORE JoePa! What a mess!

[abraxas999]

I feel psychic! Paterno's booted out and the little Penn State piggies
trash the campus. Such HONOR. Such crap, more like. And I'm glad I never had a sniveling daddy's boy like Mcquery keeping watch over my kid. Football culture produces A-holes. Observe the truth.

[amazons14]

@sandiegopete, you are so very right.

[gonecycln]

joe paterno had a legal responsibility, as a teacher, and a mandated reporter of "suspected" child abuse to contact a child protective service agency or law enforcemnet(depending on pennsylvania law)..NOT to his immediate supervisor at Penn State....i don't believe that Coach Paterno is a bad a guy, just ill-informed...sad way to end a career, and even more sad for the young boys who were forced to sustain the sexual abuse..

[tibiaornottibia]

Spare me the long-winded defense. Had it been Paterno's grandson being raped, you think he might have followed up on it?

[tibiaornottibia]

Spare me the long-winded defense. Had it been Paterno's grandson being raped, you think he might have followed up on it?

[kabebodama]

It's truly a sad day when all I read is people supporting ANYONE and I mean ANYONE other than the victims in this whole debacle. Seriously, you want me to feel sorry for Paterno or the grad student or the president at Penn state, I don't think so. A whole body of people failed that group of boys. It's not about the Nebraska game Joe.

[hunoz]

I would like to think Joe Paterno put a child's welfare above Penn State Football, University, and his legacy. Some things make that questionable. He respected and apparently trusted the grad student who described an inappropriate act between Sandusky and a child in the gym shower. He said the witness appeared shaken. He found him credible. It is logical to think Joe Paterno had the stature and position to be taken seriously when accusing Mr. Sandusky, another person with standing in the University. Perhaps that is why the witness went to him, rather than going directly to the police. It sounds as if there was quite a bit of incriminating information, along with Mr. Sandusky's admission to being in the shower with a ten year old. Did Mr. Paterno not wonder why Sandusky still had an office and privileges at the school if anyone followed up on the matter? Sadly, it seems as if often is the case, Mr. Paterno's love of football, the university, and his place in the history of such, may have caused him, along with others, not to put the protection of that child and undoubtedly others first.

[JRM4]

I fail to see why everyone is outraged at Coach Paterno in this matter. He is not the one who raped the boys. But he is the one who reported the incident to his supervisors - who did nothing.

90% of the outrage should be directed at the child molester, Sandusky. He is the pervert who committed these vial acts against the boys and against humanity. The remaining outrage should be directed at the graduate student, McQueary, who walked in on the rape - in progress - and did nothing to help the boy. He is the one who should be fired by Penn State (since he is now the wide receiver's coach) - and he should be legally liable for his inaction. His decision to walk out of the locker room while Sandusky continued to rape the boy makes him an accessory to the crime. He should have pulled Sandusky off the boy, beat him senseless, taken the boy to the ER, and called the police.

[esq777]

Paterno needs to go now. His "legacy" is now soiled beyond all redemption. This man put his own interests and a stupid football program above the interests of a defenseless child. He had a busic human moral obligation to go to police to at least get an investigation started, not just report it up a bureacratic administrative chain (and then not even bother to follow up). At Penn State Paterno was God, so if he would have made a stink action would have been taken. Instead he took the gutless coward route, covering his own tail at the expense of a child. Notice how in his ridiculous statement he said he would focus the rest of his life on the "university". How about these innocent kids that have been forever scarred by your cowardice? How about focussing on them Joe instead of hosting self-agrandizing pep rallies in your yard? He's a disgrace and needs to leave now.

[tmn]

Don't make Paterno a scapegoat. He reported the actions to his superiors the next day.