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Jerry Sandusky was always bothered

From a 1981 Sports Illustrated profile of then-Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, and his children’s charity, The Second Mile. We learn that Jer just couldn’t tear himself away from Penn State, because of all the great things he was doing in the community. For the kids.: Growing up in Brownson House, Sandusky had observed the same […]

From a 1981 Sports Illustrated profile of then-Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, and his children’s charity, The Second Mile. We learn that Jer just couldn’t tear himself away from Penn State, because of all the great things he was doing in the community. For the kids.:

Growing up in Brownson House, Sandusky had observed the same thing about troubled children. “So much of what happens depends on the care and concern that people show for them,” he says. “I saw so many kids come through there who never really had a family or anybody to care about them or give them any guidance at all. It always bothered me.”

It hasn’t bothered Sandusky that The Second Mile thus far has kept him from leaving Penn State. “Many people have talked to me about hiring him,” says Paterno, “but Jerry’s been reluctant to talk to them because of all the commitments he has in this area.” A couple of head-coaching jobs at the college level have come and gone, as well as inquiries from Oakland and Tampa Bay about interviewing Sandusky to become a pro assistant. “A long time ago Jerry really wanted to be a head coach,” says Dottie, “but now there are so many things going that he never mentions it anymore.”

“I’m concerned about his future,” says Paterno, who spent 16 years as an assistant to Rip Engle at Penn State. “I’m proud of everything that he and Dottie have done, and I certainly wouldn’t like to lose him, but I’d hate to see him lose his chance to be a head coach.”

“The timing hasn’t been right for me or my family,” says Sandusky. “It might be someday. We believe the saying, ‘It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it.’ Dottie and I were disappointed when we couldn’t have children, but we took it as a positive thing and it gave us an opportunity to do more.”

“It’s the way he’s always been,” says Sandusky‘s mother, Evie. “I guess it’s his nature that he’s never quite happy unless he’s helping somebody else.”

I guess not.

(Via Andrew Sullivan.)

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