McQueary out for Nebraska game

[FDNY99]

Due to multiple threats against him, PSU is not allowing McQueary to coach in the Nebraska game. Shool issued an official statement a little while ago.

 

[huskysupporter]

The McQueary situation is a head scratcher. Forget getting fired, how could he possibly think he can continue coaching there!?!?! No one is telling him it might be a good idea to resign???

 

[BugsyCT]

It's mind-boggling he's still on the staff, considering what a target he is for public backlash and that PSU has already cleaned house at the top including their coaching legend. Then again, they've already handled this miserably all week until last night.

 

[FDNY99]

Never mind continue coaching..how about looking himself in the mirror every day for the last 9 years.

 

[UCweCONN]

As crazy as this thing has gotten I wonder if the threats are from Paterno supporters, people disgusted with McQueary for being P%$$y and not beating Sandusky's ass or calling the police, or both. This guy should have been fired with the others. Next to Sandusky, he is the second most despicable character in this mess.

 

[UCweCONN]

I heard an interesting take on this today. It is very possible the PSU is keeping McQueary around so that they can control him and use him in the internal investigation. They are also afraid to fire him because then they would have no control over him and he could go public with the whole sorted mess and possibly destroy any chance they have to defend against the dozens of civil law suits that are coming. Given that all of the other major players have been fired but him, I think there is a reason they haven't fired McQueary. He needs to go this week and if he doesn't I am sure we will find that the cover up goes much further.

Google Sandusky and you will see that there were reports about the Sandusky grand jury probe posted on-line in late March so the news this week should not have been such a shock. Given that this info was out there, how could they have still let this guy on campus? I also found postings on blogs from the early 2000's where people made veiled references to the things Sandusky was up to. I am also sure that he was forced out in 1999 and did not retire. He was a hot commodity and could have gotten a college head coaching or even an NFL job as he was still young enough. The word must have been around in coaching circles not to go near this guy. To me this is proof that Paterno was in on the cover-up.

It's mind-boggling he's still on the staff, considering what a target he is for public backlash and that PSU has already cleaned house at the top including their coaching legend. Then again, they've already handled this miserably all week until last night.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Pat Forde brought up a point in his column today that McQueary may be protected from being fired under whistle blower laws. I can't vouch for Pennsylvania or federal whistle blower laws and how it pertains to him specifically, it's just a thought.

Realistically, even if he couldn't be fired by law, he should have the common sense and decency to resign. Of course he didn't have the common sense or decency to pull a grown man off of a 10 year old kid.

Stereotype alert- McQueary looks creepy.

 

[UConnCat]

McQueary is also a primary witness in the state's criminal charges against Sandusky (related to Victim 2) and the state's charges against Curley and Schultz. Paterno is less important as a witness because McQueary eventually met with both Curley and Schultz to inform them of what he witnessed. The state university needs to be very careful. In fact, I suspect that the PA Attorney General has urged the university not to fire him out of concern that his willingness to cooperate might be impacted. Yes, the AG could always compel his testimony through a subpoena and contempt charges, but any prosecutor would much prefer that the primary witness be a willing primary witness. Firing McQueary could jeopardize that.

 

[businesslawyer]

I have been on vacation this week so I haven't been on line as much, and following this as much, as many of you. So forgive me if I've missed a fact that would change what I'm about to say.

That having been said, I am not nearly as willing to make McQueary into a bad guy than others. Would it have been the right thing to do to pull Sandusky off the kid in the shower? Of course it would have. But no one is willing to give a young man slack for being in shock with what he saw? Or just being afraid or confused? It took a lot of guts to go to Paterno with this and be a whistleblower. This was a State College kid going to the king of the town and putting his own career, and to some extent life, on the line by telling Paterno what he wouldn't want to hear.

Was McQueary a hero in this story? No, he wasn't. But not all 23 year olds are heroes. To my mind, he acted property in the aftermath of that, and is far, far from a villian.

 

[Duncan Idaho]

He was not a kid just out of school, he was close to a 30 year old man.

 

[Sky ball]

He was 28 years old at the time.

 

[businesslawyer]

Thought he was closer to being in school. But I'm not sure that changes anything.

 

[BugsyCT]

Many people see it this way: McQueary was 28 and a former player (so he was no scrawny kid) and the guy who witnessed the 2002 incident in the shower, and didn't take the initiative to stop a heinous crime being committed right in front of him by stopping Sandusky and helping the kid right then & there. And when the dust settled, the police nor child protection services were ever informed of the incident by anyone that McQueary had passed the info off to, nor did McQueary contact them himself. And to this day he's still on the Penn State coaching staff. So it appears that he's part of the cover-up. I can understand the public outrage.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

Hey, some people, when confronted with something like this have the courage and guts to do the right thing, consequences be damned.

Others turn tail and run to daddy like a coward. I see no actions by McQueary, none, that show me he had any guts at all.

He could've ended this whole thing on that day in 2002. He ran to daddy.

 

[Scoe]

I could understand his initial reaction he was probably in a state of shock, he grew up with the Sandusky family. No one knows how they would react in that situation he was probably scared and had no idea what to do. Initially he did the right thing but calling his father and then speaking to Paterno. Its the lack of follow through that I have an issue with. How do you not contact the authorities after the next 9 years especially having seen JS bringing kids into the facilities, just makes me sick.

 

[upstater]

Watch this video by Jon Ritchie. Ritchie is the first person I've heard state that he probably would not have stopped Sandusky from doing what he did in that moment: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7219531

Now, realize this. The 2002 victim's identity is unknown. The GJ report shows that only 5 people knew of it, all at PSU. Since 2 are under indictment, that leaves Spanier, Paterno and McQueary as being the source of the information about the 2002 showers. It could very well be that McQueary went to the AG at some point after the investigation started in 2008-2009 and revealed that information.

 

[metsfan2323]

McQuery is receiving death threats, are those threats "Keep your mouth shut McQuery"?

 

[Husky68]

Thought he was closer to being in school. But I'm not sure that changes anything.

I'm sure it does. He was a 28 year old man, 6'5" and 230 lbs. I was given a rifle and some ammo and sent to kill guys I didn't know when I was 22, so I think a 28 year old monster sized guy could handle this. Hope my wife or daughter aren't being attacked when you are the only one walking by. Though I'm sure you would testify later as to what you saw. MM taking action on the spot did not require a hero, just not a coward. How hard would it have been to shout "what the duck is going on"; you (without one of your "how do you know" statements) got to figure that would (likely) have stopped it.

 

[Jimmy Serrano]

I honestly cannot believe that some people would say they would walk away if they saw a 10 year old boy being brutally raped by a 55 year old man.

This defense of McQueary's actions (or more accurately, his inactions) at the scene of the crime is mind boggling to me.

 

[storrsbred1]

Thought he was closer to being in school. But I'm not sure that changes anything.

You are right, it doesn't change anything. He totally failed as a human being. He had a defining moment the life of several people (including himself) and blinked. If it had been your son would you still be of the same forgiving mind? Can you picture that? Could you live with the fact your son would be scared for life?

How about all the kids that were presumably raped by that scum from that point forward? I totally disagree with your thought on this matter.

 

[freescooter]

I guess in one sense it is easy to say you'd do something when you aren't put in the position of having to do it...I hope I would have stepped in. I think I would have stepped in, but I've never had to step into a situation like that, so I can't say it with 100% accuracy. But what troubles me is that neither Joe Pa his father nor the AD said, "Mac, you need to report this to the police." Or more accurately, "Get the cops in here so you can tell them what you saw." That in the moment someone made a bad decision I can understand. I might not like it but I can understand how it could happen. But after the fact, he goes to four people for advice and NOBOBY says you need ot call the cops?

 

[upstater]

You are right, it doesn't change anything. He totally failed as a human being. He had a defining moment the life of several people (including himself) and blinked. If it had been your son would you still be of the same forgiving mind? Can you picture that? Could you live with the fact your son would be scared for life?

How about all the kids that were presumably raped by that scum from that point forward? I totally disagree with your thought on this matter.

99.999999% of the people say they would have stopped Sandusky. AFTER the fact. Only Jon Ritchie, being the one who can mostly relate to McQueary's frame of mind, has said he probably would have done the same as McQueary. The rest of us can only speculate about it from a distance which allows things like ethics, morals, logic and responsibility to enter into the mix.

 

[upstater]

I guess in one sense it is easy to say you'd do something when you aren't put in the position of having to do it...I hope I would have stepped in. I think I would have stepped in, but I've never had to step into a situation like that, so I can't say it with 100% accuracy. But what troubles me is that neither Joe Pa his father nor the AD said, "Mac, you need to report this to the police." Or more accurately, "Get the cops in here so you can tell them what you saw." That in the moment someone made a bad decision I can understand. I might not like it but I can understand how it could happen. But after the fact, he goes to four people for advice and NOBOBY says you need ot call the cops?

There's something more to this. It' the follow-up that troubles me, not that they didn't tell him to call the cops. The 1998 incident also happened in the showers. The football program then alerted Schulz who was the head of PSU campus police. He launched an investigation which brought State College police and the Centre County DA into the picture. That's how the sting operation took place. So, it might very well be that, given Paterno's institutional memory, they were following the right path to getting this settled. The question is, why no follow up? When Schulz hadn't followed proper procedure to reveal this to the DA and town police, why didn't Paterno, McQueary and Curley step up. Or, alternately, was Schulz subsequently pressured by someone? Paterno? I'm just saying that in the days and even weeks after the 2002 incident, it's conceivable that McQueary thought the proper ways of contacting authorities had been taken.

At some point, however, McQueary should have made inquiries about the status of the case.

 

[ctchamps]

I guess in one sense it is easy to say you'd do something when you aren't put in the position of having to do it...I hope I would have stepped in. I think I would have stepped in, but I've never had to step into a situation like that, so I can't say it with 100% accuracy. But what troubles me is that neither Joe Pa his father nor the AD said, "Mac, you need to report this to the police." Or more accurately, "Get the cops in here so you can tell them what you saw." That in the moment someone made a bad decision I can understand. I might not like it but I can understand how it could happen. But after the fact, he goes to four people for advice and NOBOBY says you need ot call the cops?

The one thing that I'm not clear about. Does the campus police at PSU have legal authority in the State of Pennsylvania to handle criminal matters? Can someone clear this up for me?

 

[ctchamps]

There's something more to this. It' the follow-up that troubles me, not that they didn't tell him to call the cops. The 1998 incident also happened in the showers. The football program then alerted Schulz who was the head of PSU campus police. He launched an investigation which brought State College police and the Centre County DA into the picture. That's how the sting operation took place. So, it might very well be that, given Paterno's institutional memory, they were following the right path to getting this settled. The question is, why no follow up? When Schulz hadn't followed proper procedure to reveal this to the DA and town police, why didn't Paterno, McQueary and Curley step up. Or, alternately, was Schulz subsequently pressured by someone? Paterno? I'm just saying that in the days and even weeks after the 2002 incident, it's conceivable that McQueary thought the proper ways of contacting authorities had been taken.

At some point, however, McQueary should have made inquiries about the status of the case.

Do I understand from your post that the campus police at PSU does not have legal authority to handle criminal matters?