Seahawks Penn State alumni saddened by school’s scandal

Published 2:55 pm Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Seahawks fullback Michael Robinson and receiver Deon Butler both played for Joe Paterno at Penn State, and both of them, like everyone else hearing the news out of State College, Penn., are shocked and saddened by the news that former longtime assistant Jerry Sandusky has been charged with child molestation.

“First off, I want to express my deep sorrow for the children that are involved,” said Robinson, who played quarterback at Penn State. “I have three kids myself, and I can’t imagine what those families are going through today and have went through in the past.

Robinson then paused to collect himself, clearing his throat.

“It’s a sad day to be a Penn Stater,” he said.

Robinson said he did not think that Paterno, who announced Wednesday that he will retire after the season, should lose his job over the scandal.

“No, I didn’t agree with that, but that’s Joe, that’s the type of guy that he is,” Robinson. “He doesn’t want to be a distraction. He doesn’t like a lot of people talking about this. I know he wishes he could have had some things back, he’s not a perfect guy, but what he stands for as a man, and what he’s meant to college football, and what he has meant to me personally in my life, that’s another reason why I’m so saddened today.

“It’s sad how,” Robinson said before again having to collect himself, “some sick people can tarnish a great man like that.”

Butler offered his prayers to the victims, but also stood up for his former coach.

“First off, I just want to say the kids here are the victims if these allegations are true, so that’s the first thing, that we pray for those families and that everything works out well for them, because lost among this is just that you never want any crime against kids,” Butler said. “That’s the first thing.”

Asked about Paterno, Butler said: “If you just know the guy, the man that Joe is that I’ve known over the years—obviously I know what he stands for and all of that—he definitely has our full support here. I think everything will work out fine, but he’ll do what he sees fit. But he’ll never lose the support of the former players that he has.”

“Obviously that’s a sad day for anybody that went there, that’s been in the program and the state of Pennsylvania football. He’s just been there so long, and just knowing the man that he is—a lot of people think they have an idea of who he is—but if you’ve been on one of those teams you know exactly what he stands for, what he’s all about. Obviously no one there supports pedophiles if this is true, but just the guy that he is and what he stands for, just to see him at a time like this to go out this way, it’s a tainted legacy, and you don’t want people to think of him like that. Like I said, just knowing who he is, he definitely doesn’t stand for any of this. You don’t want that to take back all that he stood for for the game of college football, not just Penn State, but the whole game.”