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| Not Untold: A 1979 Sports Illustrated story mentioned the Todd Hodne incident |
Ray Blehar
ESPN's Paula Lavigne's and Tom Junod's hit piece on Joe Paterno, titled "Untold," piles onto the false narrative (from the Freeh Report) that the former legendary coach and Penn State University (PSU) protected the football program at all costs. Like the Freeh Report, "Untold" assigns sinister motives to nearly every action taken by Paterno and other PSU officials with respect to the arrest and conviction of former football player Todd Hodne. And, like the Freeh Report, "Untold" makes its case mostly through innuendo and uncorroborated statements.
The facts about Paterno and PSU's handling of criminal cases stand in stark contrast to the story spun by Lavigne and Junod.
1. According to former judge Carmine Prestia, neither Paterno, nor anyone else from the football program, ever interfered in criminal investigations or asked that his players received special treatment in the 40 years he was a policeman and judge.
2. Former Penn State Faculty Senate chairs wrote that over their hundreds of years of experience they were never asked to give favorable treatment to student athletes.
3. No one from Penn State was convicted for covering up or obstructing the investigation of the Jerry Sandusky criminal case.
But ESPN wasn't about to let those facts stand in the way of its story.
