The great grandson of Amos Alonzo Stagg said his family would consider re-evaluating the name of the Big Ten championship trophy -- the Stagg-Paterno Championship Trophy (pictured) -- if “more disturbing evidence” comes to light in the case surrounding former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, CBS’ Dennis Dodd writes today.
Robert Stagg said he and his family have been monitoring the situation at Penn State closely. Sandusky has been indicted on child-sex charges, and school athletic director Tim Curley and administrator Gary Schultz reportedly knew of at least one incident in 2002 where Sandusky sodomized a young boy in the locker room of an on-campus football facility, but did not report the incident to proper authorities.
Curley and Schultz have been charged with perjury. Curley has taken a leave of absence; Schultz has gone back into retirement.
Also mentioned in the Pennsylvania grand jury indictment was Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who, after being told of the aforementioned incident by a then-graduate assistant witness to the alleged act, reported it to Curley. However, Paterno did not take any further action even when it became clear Sandusky would not face legal investigation.
“If he [Paterno] has been complicit in this, he’s got to step down,” said Stagg. “Unfortunately that would be the case.
“We’ve kind of cheered JoePa along. We’re still hoping he’s cleared on this. If something else comes to light and he kind of let this go leaving someone else to handle, then we may feel very differently.”
Paterno was set to have his weekly press conference today, but it was abruptly cancelled shortly before hand. A New York Times report has stated Penn State is beginning to plan an exit for the long-time coach. However, Paterno’s son, Scott, said those reports were “premature”.
Amos Alonzo Stagg was a legendary coach at the University of Chicago while the Maroons were a member of the Big Ten. Roberts father, Amos Alonzo Stagg III, is set to be honored at the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis in just under a month.
“We’ll just have to wait and see but if we find that a lot more disturbing evidence comes out I’m sure we will have a lot of discussion with the Big Ten.”