Monday, August 28, 2000

Penn State QB can't avoid rush to judgment



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        Maybe Rashard Casey did beat up a police officer. Maybe Casey, who is black, attacked a white cop named Patrick Fitzsimmons last May 14, outside a bar in Hoboken, N.J. It is alleged that Casey beat the guy up because he was with a white woman. Maybe Rashard Casey did all that.

        And maybe he didn't.

        I don't know. Neither do you. Neither does anyone currently convicting the Penn State quarterback. It is a sad quirk in our justice system that allows “public figures” to be tried before their time. Because of it, Casey is convicted even if he's innocent.

        Casey played poorly Sunday in the Kickoff Classic. Against Southern Cali
fornia, Casey lost a fumble, threw an interception, scrambled without purpose. He could say he'd blocked the charges from his mind, and maybe he had. It didn't look that way.
       

Benefit of doubt
               From presidents to paupers to outfielders named Strawberry, we give everyone else the benefit of the doubt. It may make us look foolish or naive, but it is the way we do things in this country. And ultimately, we can be proud of that.

        Benefit of the doubt is a constitutional right. It's part of who we are: Innocent until proven guilty. Casey has not been convicted of anything. He hasn't even been indicted. He is, for now, innocent. We've tried him, though. We've judged him but good.

        “I'm going to play Rashard Casey until someone convinces me I shouldn't,” Joe Paterno said recently. Paterno is the Penn State coach who is seven wins away from breaking Bear Bryant's record for most career victories. That's nice. What's better is that in 35 years as the head coach at Penn State, Paterno has polished his integrity to the highest gloss.

        These days, anyone who isn't cynical about college sports hasn't been paying attention. Few have ever been cynical about Paterno, though. Until now.

        The self-serving thing for Paterno to have done with his quarterback would have been to say, “We (I) won't tolerate this sort of thing in our (my) program. It reflects poorly on us (me).”

        Instead, Paterno has hung his reputation on the longest, thinnest branch. If Casey is indicted and convicted, St. Joe's image, 35 seasons in the making, will take a quantum hit. It says a lot about Paterno that he believes in his player.

        Doesn't that count for anything?
       

Short sighted
               Most of us don't see it that way, though. We look past Paterno's 35 seasons of decency as if they were coincidental. We say Paterno wants to pass Bryant, and he needs his fifth-year senior QB to do it. Ethics are nice, when they aren't inconvenient to winning.

        It's easy to be cynical. But Paterno would beat Bryant's record with Sean Casey playing quarterback. He's a young 73. He can coach in Happy Valley as long as he wants. He'll get the record, regardless. What Paterno is doing is taking a hit for decency.

        And what of Rashard Casey? If he's convicted, he'll be punished. That is, he'll be punished more than he's being punished now. Right now, he's innocent. He's free and clear. At least he's clear. Whether he's free is open to debate.

        Casey was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That much we know. That, and this: It's unfair he has to avoid two rushes: The pass rush and the rush to judgment.

        Paul Daugherty welcomes your comments at 768-8454.