At Penn State, Religion is Football

Shortly before the Jerry Sandusky sexual-molestation saga became a full-blown catastrophe, there was a whiteout at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium. The weather report had predicted snow, but it needn’t have: close to 100,000 Nittany Lions fans, pridefully cloaked in all-white T-shirts, showed up in solidarity.

It was a common tradition among the football team’s faithful, followed, on Sunday, by yet another one. During a lively sermon at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, a pastor compared the practice to St. John the Divine’s arrival in heaven.

“Just last week,” the  Rev. Eric Shafer said, “my son Kyle and I were there for that thrilling win against Illinois. As Kyle and I were walking out of the stadium, I said, ‘That was just a football game, with 70,000 people. Can you imagine what heaven’s going to be like?’”

Over the top? Yes. Particularly since Sandusky, a former assistant coach at Penn State, and a member of that church, had already been arrested. But this is Penn State—a place where football is religion and religion is football.