Thanks to Daniel Dorfman, who helps me immensely with this site, for spotting this article.

I’ve always admired the power of a newspaper cartoon. Rob Tornoe of the Philadelphia Inquirer uses every bit of it in revising his look at Joe Paterno.

In the first cartoon immediately after Joe Paterno’s death in January, he has Paul “Bear” Bryant welcoming the coach to heaven.

Tornoe then did an update after the Freeh Commission report.

Wow. That’s pretty strong stuff.

Did he go too far?

Tornoe explains in a piece at Cagle Post. He writes:

The (first) cartoon was enormously popular, and spread across Facebook like a wildfire. My inbox was stuffed with thank you notes and warm wishes from Penn State alums across the country. Someone even printed it out and put it on display next to Paterno’s statue as a tribute. And you know something – I was wrong.

With the release of the Freeh report, it’s clear to anyone but his kids that Paterno, along with other top Penn State officials, covered up the child sex abuse allegations against assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky out of fear of bad publicity.

Covered up child rape. For more than a decade. So it wouldn’t harm the football team. I’m not a religious person, but this man doesn’t belong in heaven.

So I have the opportunity not too many cartoonists are afforded – to redress my mistake, to call myself out for taking part in a pity party for someone who decided that a child’s well being was only valuable if they were wearing his team’s football uniform.