"Paterno's legacy"

Louis Freeh's report on child abuse at Penn State confirms the worst: the college's brass, including Joe Paterno, knew about and actively covered up coach Jerry Sandusky's sexual exploitation of children. Paterno, who bullshitted to the end ("Nobody had any inkling", "I never heard of a man rapin' another man"), saw his personal and institutional reputation as the primary victims, a mindset still embodied by countless sports-page headlines: "Paterno's legacy may now be damaged beyond repair", "Paterno's legacy tarnished", Paterno's legacy blah blah blah.