Bobby Bowden says Joe Paterno’s statue needs to be removed

When news surfaced of Joe Paterno's connection with a child sex scandal at Penn State, former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden proclaimed that he only wanted to remember the good things about his friend of 50 years.

"I don't remember the bad things," Bowden told the Palm Beach Post. "He didn't have many bad things."

And now he says he doesn't want anyone else to remember the bad things either. That's why during a radio interview with Cory Giger, Bowden asked for Paterno's famed statue on the Penn State campus to be taken down.

"Should his statue be removed? In my opinion, yes," Bowden said. "Now the reason is, Penn State's job now is to try to forget this thing. But every time somebody walks by and sees that statue, they're not going to remember the 80 good years, they're going to remember this thing with (former assistant coach Jerry) Sandusky.

"Just think, every time you go to a ballgame at Penn State and they shine a camera on that statue, that's going to be brought up again. So if I was Penn State, if I was Joe's family, I'd say, move on from all that stuff."

Bowden isn't the only one who thinks Penn State needs to be cleansed of all the reminders of the Sandusky scandal. Former All-American linebacker LaVar Arrington told the Wetzel to Forde Show on Thursday evening that he thought everything connected with the scandal should be "purged."

Bowden has been a staunch defender of Paterno since news broke in November, but acknowledged that his legacy was spoiled by the scandal.

"He's just one of the best coaches ever," Bowden told the paper. "I felt like he would go down as probably the best ever, but after (the Sandusky scandal) it kind of tainted it. But I'm sorry it happened. I hate it happened. I hate to see something happen to Joe."

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