[06-21-2012, as Sandusky jury deliberates] Here’s Sports Illustrated’s 1999 Profile Of Jerry Sandusky And Its 2011 “Rewind”
[This is a re-posting of our 2011 article]
For the December 20, 1999 Sports Illustrated issue, Jack McCallum wrote an article for the Last Call feature about Jerry Sandusky’s retirement from his Penn State defensive coaching job. In it McCallum also wrote about the foundation Sandusky had fathered in 1977, the Second Mile, an organization dedicated to helping at-risk children. The SI story McCallum wrote was referred to in the Grand Jury presentment, page 15, regarding “Victim 4.” In McCallum’s article he praised Sandusky, and to everyone’s satisfaction. Indeed, then, it appeared Sandusky had much to recommend him, particularly his role in the Second Mile. McCallum concludes with these words (ellipses in original):
Here’s the best thing you can say about Jerry Sandusky: He’s the main reason that Penn State is Linebacker U . . . and linebackers aren’t even his enduring legacy.
Sandusky’s present predicament is a morality play writ large, occupying a stage unfamiliar to these performances. He defies most of our conceptions and perceptions of a “sexual predator,” and, to be clear, the charges against him have not been proved. Yet, the facts are that most child sexual abuse occurs within families, or via known and trusted adults. These people do not lurk in alleys – they are familiar, sometimes renowned people who we would have as our friends, and, perhaps, many of us do, unknowingly. The incidence of sexual predation is likely under-reported, partly due to the sometimes high community standing of the predator, and the fear and confusion of a victim who is plied with gifts and affection that he or she does not receive elsewhere.
Here’s another piece of Jack McCallum’s words aboout Sandusky:
If Sandusky did not have such a human side, there would be a temptation around Happy Valley to canonize him: Saint Sandusky, leader of linebackers, molder of men.
There’s no blame, of course, to dole out to McCallum if Sandusky is found guilty of the charges against him. McCallum reported what he saw, what everyone saw, then. Now? It’s difficult to accept this at times, but allegations are merely hypotheses, to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Of course, as we all say too at times like these, “We’ll see.”
The original story is set out below. It is all text, no pictures.
