CBS Aaron Taylor personal statement gives hope for abused kids, strong stand on failure of Paterno

By: @LivingCrimson

In a moving statement, Aaron Taylor reveals he was the victim of abuse as a 5 year old. His message to other kids in that situation is the hope they can overcome such horrific trauma and go on to lead productive lives. Taylor was an All-American offensive tackle at Notre Dame, winning the Lombardi Award as the best lineman in college football. He was also an offensive guard in the NFL, playing for the Green Bay Packers and the San Diego Chargers.

Taylor goes on to say: ”All it takes for evil in the world to exist is for good men to stand by and do nothing.” In the Penn State situation, Taylor believes “people took their morality and replaced it with their loyalty; their loyalty to the brand, loyalty to the team, and that’s a systemic problem…” He hopes these issues do not harm the traditional role sports has played in helping victims focus on other things. “Sports has always served the role for us to be our soft place to fall during times of tragedy,” Taylor said.

Here’s link to video – having technical difficulties.

Aaron Taylor, Gary Danielson, Tim Brando, Adam Zucker

As my earlier post recounts, Joe Paterno knew about Sandusky’s alleged child abuse from at least 1998 and did nothing to prevent Sandusky bringing young boys into Penn State football facilities or to the hotels used by the team. Paterno also never attempted to stop Sandusky’s contact with boys through the charity The Second Mile.

Video of the pregame, sideline clearing, silence-inducing prayer before the Penn State Nebraska game today. The first game without Paterno on the sidelines since 1949.

Crowd respectful of pregame prayer

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