A College Football Coach Makes a Weak Attempt to Defend Joe Paterno

Now just isn't the time.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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Joe Paterno was a great football coach—on the football field. If you're going to say anything positive about Joe Pa in light of the recent Freeh Report, that's it. But, Missouri head football coach Gary Pinkel took it a step too far at the SEC media days when he went ahead and tried to defend Paterno's "greatness" and his entire legacy as a Nittany Lion.

"Joe Paterno's a friend that I got to know professionally," he said, "and you can't take away the greatness of this man. He was a great man. However you analyze this, you can't erase all that this guy's done. You can't do that. nobody can do that. I think when you come out of such a tragic situation, certainly involving children and the magnitude of this in our country from a media standpoint, I anticipated really what happened. I anticipated that they would do this. You're not going to sit back there and say, 'Well, just things happen.' You're not going to do that. They're going to be firing, and people, they're going to make statements and they're going to point fingers, and that's what I anticipated a little bit. But, he was a great man, a good man. I'm sure he would, maybe if he could do it over again, he would have followed up a few things. But, don't take away all this guy did. And, to sit there and blame him for all this, I think is wrong."

You're certainly entitled to your opinion, Coach. We just don't think many people out there are going to agree with it.

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[via The Big Lead]

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