By Inga Saffron, The Philadelphia Inquirer –
PHILADELPHIA — By the time word came Sunday that Pennsylvania State University was taking down Joe Paterno’s statue, there was not much doubt or mixed feelings among alumni and sports fans in the Philadelphia area about what should be done.
They said it was time for JoePa’s bronze likeness to go.
(PHOTO: Penn State OPP employees cover the Joe Paterno statue outside of Beaver Stadium before removing it on Sunday, July 22, 2012, in State College, Pennsylvania. )
The news that the 900-pound sculpture had been removed was greeted with near-unanimous approval from an unscientific sampling of Penn State graduates, football fans, and casual observers who were interviewed in Center City after images of the tarp-covered figure began making the rounds on computer and TV screens. After months of troubling revelations about Paterno’s role in the Jerry Sandusky child-abuse scandal, some described the removal as having an almost cathartic effect.
“I think it’s great that they had the nerve to do it,” said David Rose, who was playing T-ball with his two young children in Washington Square.
Rose graduated from Penn State in 2002, the year after the Paterno statue was erected outside Beaver Stadium, and said he was a regular at football games during his college years. While acknowledging Paterno’s celebrated career and generous contributions to university life, Rose said “his legacy was tarnished for good” by his behavior in the Sandusky scandal.
“No number of football wins makes up for what they covered up,” he declared.
Though such sentiments seemed to predominate in conversations that took place in Philadelphia on Sunday, passions 160 miles away in State College ran in a different direction. Distraught admirers of Paterno flocked to the statue site, which was already surrounded by a chain-link construction fence at 7 a.m., to pray and pay their respects. Some wept.
Perhaps because of their distance from Paterno’s home field, Philadelphians took a tougher line. In interview after interview, people noted that their views about Paterno’s role in the scandal had hardened after the release two weeks ago of a searing report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh.
Joe Kortek of Roxborough said the report helped clarify his feelings. Though he had been a student at Penn State in 1983, the year Paterno led the football team to a national championship, he admired the coach most for his off-field philanthropy and good deeds.
“To this day, I still respect him,” said Kortek, who was at Independence Mall with visiting relatives. “But I feel now that the statue should be removed.”
Though the circumstances were obviously much different, the university’s action Sunday resonated with memories of other statues that had been unceremoniously pulled down — from Vladimir Lenin to Saddam Hussein — in revolutions and political upheavals. This dismantlement was simply part of a natural progression: First the leaders must go, then their symbols.
To some, the statue’s removal was akin to an apology read by a convicted criminal before sentencing. With the NCAA expected to announce severe sanctions against Penn State on Monday, the decision to take down Paterno’s statue can be seen as an act of contrition.
Bob Harmon, who was attending a Philadelphia Soul arena football game Sunday at the Wells Fargo Center, said he was just sick of the continual Penn State talk. “They have to do what they have to do,” Harmon said. “It’s going to be hard to rebuild that place. It’s embarrassing, really.”
Now the question is what to do with the sculpture, designed by Reading sculptor Angelo Di Maria.
Several people urged the university to donate it to the Paterno family. One person suggested the university auction it off and donate the proceeds to a group dedicated to fighting child abuse.
Or, the university could house Paterno’s likeness in Penn State’s sports museum. It would lose its place of honor, but retain its place in history.
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Philadelphia Inquirer staff writers Angela Couloumbis and Chad Graff contributed to this article.
