One of the more amazing elements of this entire saga is that Louis Freeh is somehow still perceived as a highly respected and credible investigator. Quite literally, it would be difficult to find a more suspect investigative history from someone who had once been the director of the modern FBI. Had the media wanted to do so, creating the narrative that Freeh is a fraud would have been far easier than the one they concocted that Joe Paterno was obviously a pedophile protector.
When the Freeh Report hit, the Paterno forces and their supporters were much like a battered and demoralized army who had already endured what they thought was the worst battle they could ever possibly face, only to be then hit with a nuclear bomb they didn’t even know existed. As unprepared as they were for the initial onslaught, they were even less ready for the second wave of devastating attacks.
After the statue was taken away and NCAA sanctions were implemented, I personally went from being simply outraged at what I saw happening, to feeling an immensely strong need to be part of at least trying to correct the injustice. It may sound insane (it did even to my wife) but I was absolutely positive that I was the person in the country most qualified to find out the truth and tell the story of what really happened here.
I felt this way because of several important factors.
One year after the release of the Freeh Report, this is what seems to be reality of the aftermath of the Sandusky scandal and its impact on the State College community:
Todd Blackledge, the quarterback of Joe Paterno's first official national championship team and a prominent commentator on ESPN, has done his most extensive interview to date on the issues surrounding the Jerry Sandusky scandal with John Ziegler.
I have had a lot of very strange and unique experiences in my career when it comes to trying to confront public figures and hold them accountable when no one else in the media would for things that they have done wrong. I have gone after the likes of O.J. Simpson, Robert Blake, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Barbara Boxer, Katie Couric, David Keene, Tiger Woods, Mark Schwartz, and Mark Emmert (among others), but I have never had an experience quite like what occurred when I went to “visit” Penn State President Rodney Erickson last night.
Here is the audio of an entertaining and informative appearance on the Kevin Slaten show where we review the "Costas Tonight" special and the media coverage of it.
My disdain for the media is pretty well known. In fact, I doubt anyone as ever been seen by more people on American TV while attacking the hosts of the very shows they were on than me. I am also a pessimist by nature and, because of that, I had low expectations for the "Costas Tonight" special on NBC Sports Network, even though I had spoken to Bob Costas twice about the subject after my interview with Jerry Sandusky.
I am a big believer that, if you look closely enough, the truth will almost always eventually reveal itself, even if it ends up happening in unusual ways. Such is how I see the media coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings when it comes to evaluating the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of how the media reacted to Penn State’s “role” in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, as well as an important element of what actually happened in that case.