News: Scandal that brought down Paterno bothers Bowden
College football legend Bobby Bowden never shied away from speaking his mind, and in one of his final interviews before his passing, the former Florida State coach reflected on one of the sport’s darkest chapters—the scandal that ultimately ended Joe Paterno’s career at Penn State. Bowden, a longtime friend and respected rival of Paterno, admitted that the circumstances surrounding the downfall still troubled him deeply.
The incident, which stemmed from the 2011 child abuse scandal involving former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, led to widespread criticism of Paterno’s response and a sudden, painful exit from the sport he had shaped for more than six decades. Though Paterno was never criminally charged, his perceived inaction in the matter and the institutional failure that followed led to his dismissal just weeks before his death.
“I think about Joe a lot,” Bowden said during a 2019 sit-down with *The Associated Press*. “It just eats at me how everything ended for him. Here’s a guy who gave his life to one school, did everything by the book for so long, and then it was all wiped away in an instant.”
For Bowden, the situation raised questions not just about accountability and institutional responsibility, but about legacy—how decades of service and integrity could be overshadowed by a moment of tragedy and controversy.
“There’s no excuse for what happened with those kids. None,” Bowden made clear. “But I always thought Joe got lost in the fallout. I’m not defending what wasn’t done—only saying I wish the ending had been different. I wish he had the chance to stand up and face it head-on, and not be pushed out the way he was.”
Bowden and Paterno were two pillars of college football during the 1990s and 2000s, often trading places at the top of the NCAA’s all-time wins list. Their programs symbolized stability and a commitment to doing things “the right way,” at least in the eyes of many in the sport. Their friendship was rooted in mutual respect and a shared understanding of the pressures that came with building and sustaining elite football programs.
Despite the bitterness of Paterno’s final months, Bowden continued to believe in the importance of context, reminding others that careers—and lives—should be judged in full, not just by their final chapters.
“You can’t forget the impact Joe had on those kids, that school, and the game itself,” Bowden said. “We lost something when we lost him, and we lost more when we erased him.”
In reflecting on the scandal that ended his friend’s career, Bowden didn’t minimize the pain of the victims or the severity of the failings. But he remained haunted by how quickly a lifetime of contributions was swept away in a storm of disgrace.
