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TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012
PRICE TO PAY
SANCTIONS SLAM PENN STATE • $60 MILLION FINE
• FOUR-YEAR POSTSEASON BAN
• LOSS OF LEAGUE REVENUE
• CONSENT DECREE
• LOSS OF 20 SCHOLARSHIPS
• 111 WINS VACATED
AP FILE PHOTO
The Penn State football team gathers on the field before the September 2010 game against Temple at Beaver Stadium in State College. The NCAA slammed Penn State with an unprecedented series of penalties Monday, including a $60 million fine and the loss of all coach Joe Paterno’s victories from 1998-2011, in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal.
Facing uncertain future
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By DEREK LEVARSE
dlevarse@timesleader.com
TATE COLLEGE -- Penn State football will continue on. Rather than deliver the death penalty to the Nittany Lions, the NCAA instead placed the program into a coma on Monday, one that will likely take years to recover from. • Penn State football will continue on. But barely. • Dismayed with what it called “an unprecedented failure of institutional integrity” at the university in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, the NCAA granted President Mark Emmert unique authority to impose severe sanctions on Penn State, forgoing the usual enforcement process. Citing the university-commissioned Freeh with the NCAA’s executive board -- composed report, which concluded that top university of university presidents from across the nation officials were predominately to blame for not -- before issuing five separate penalties bringing allegations of child sexual abuse against the Lions. to light, Emmert unleashed some of the • A fine of $60 million, which will harshest penalties in NCAA history. be paid out in five annual install“These events were perverse and ments of $12 million, according to unconscionable,” Emmert said. “No Penn State President Rodney Erickpenalties can repair the damage son. The money is forbidden from done by Jerry Sandusky. coming at the expense of any But the culture that led to other program at the univerthe actions and inactions sity -- athletic or academic. that allowed (children) Gov. Tom Corbett said to be victimized will in a statement that no taxnot be tolerated in college athletics.” See PSU, Page 2A Emmert consulted
SIX PAGES OF COVERAGE
Message to victims Local advocates praise strong action taken by NCAA. By SHEENA DELAZIO sdelazio@timesleader.com
W
hile the sanctions imposed on Penn State on Monday by the National Collegiate Athletic Association may not affect the victims of Jerry Sandusky, future victims of sexual abuse can rest assured steps have been taken to protect them, several local advocates said Monday. “(The sanctions) were a good message to the victims,” Janet MacKay, executive director of the county’s Victims Resource Center, said. “It shows them someone did hear what they said. (The NCAA) took seriously that they were impacted. It gave a clear message that we need to protect children.” MacKay cited the $60 million fine, to be paid over a five-year period into an endowment for programs preventing child sexual abuse and/or assisting victims of child sexual abuse, as See VICTIMS, Page 2A
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SPORTS
A failure of leadership
Pride still strong Sanctions shock students Still game to go?
Q&A on loss of wins In their own words A peachy proposition
Players ignore ‘noise’ One player’s commitment Opinion: From pride to shame
Paternos blast NCAA Joyner looks to future
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THE TIMES LEADER
TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012
P E N N S TAT E S C A N D A L
WE ARE … OVERWHELMED
NCAA, Big Ten inflict massive penalties on PSU
AP PHOTO
ABOVE: Penn State running back Silas Redd, left, with a Walter Camp Football Foundation backpack, leaves the Lasch football building after a team meeting explaining the ramifications of the NCAA sanctions against the football program in State College. BELOW: Starting quarterback Matt McGloin wears items touting his family’s business while leaving the Lasch building Monday.
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By DEREK LEVARSE | dlevarse@timesleader.com
TATE COLLEGE -- Not long after Bill O’Brien took over as coach at Penn State, a few new signs appeared at the team’s Lasch Building headquar-
ters. One, posted on a door in the back, gives five bullet point reminders for players “WHEN YOU LEAVE HERE,” outlining expectations in the community and the classroom. The fifth and final directive instructs players to “Ignore the Noise.” Dozens of Nittany Lions, upon exiting that same door on Monday morning following a team meeting, did just that, silently walking past a large crowd of media seeking comment in the aftermath of the NCAA’s severe sanctions against the football program and university.
Lewis’ commitment to PSU remains strong … for now By DEREK LEVARSE dlevarse@timesleader.com
STATE COLLEGE – Before ever playing a down at Penn State, Eugene Lewis learned that he may never get to play in a bowl game for the Nittany Lions. Heavy sanctions levied by the Lewis NCAA against the football program on Monday have clouded the future for the Wyoming Valley Conference standout. On one hand, Lewis’ father said his son will remain at Penn State. “Oh yeah, that’s no question,” Eugene Lewis Sr. said Monday evening. “He’s that type of person, when he’s committed to you, he’s committed to you.” Lewis’ former football coach at Wyoming Valley West said, however, that Lewis was unsure if he would transfer to another school when he last heard from him in the late afternoon and early
Most did not acknowledge questions asked of them. The few that stopped only said that they had no comment. Further attempts to contact players over the phone, at their apartments and on campus See NCAA, Page 4B
evening Monday. “Well, we were texting, so I wasn’t able to tell any emotion with him, but I’m sure he’s pretty devastated,” Pat Keating said. “He told me he’d take a day or two to make his decision.” Adding to the confusion was the fact that Lewis, along with Penn State players and coaches, were not available for comment Monday. The football team also traditionally does not allow first-year players to speak to the media. Lewis, who starred as a quarterback and wide receiver at Valley West, arrived in State College earlier this month and would have a chance to see the field as a true freshman at wideout. If he plays immediately in 2012 and does not use a redshirt season, however, he will not have the opportunity to play in a bowl game during his Penn State career. Among Penn See LEWIS, Page 4B
The late coach really dug the Lions a grave They paralyzed Penn State’s football program. They pillaged its once-storied past. And they fouled up any future new coach Bill O’Brien hoped to build in his early years as the team’s new leader. Not NCAA president Mark Emmert and his band of college sports regulators. Joe Paterno and his Penn State cronies did all this. If you’re looking for someone to blame for all the harsh penalties handed down by Emmert on Monday, point the finger at Penn State’s late head coach. He’s the one who turned Penn
PAUL SOKOLOSKI OPINION State pride into a symbol of shame, remaining quiet while his former defensive coordinator and recently-convicted sexual predator Jerry Sandusky preyed on young boys for more than a decade. And Paterno’s the one who became so swelled with power, people feared challenging his football program to the point where they covered up a crime. “There is no action we can take that will remove their pain,” Emmert said in a televised press conference. So instead, the NCAA crippled
the program Paterno built a day after his disgraced statue was rightfully removed from outside Beaver Stadium. He’s no longer the all-time winningest coach in major college football history, down to a record of 298-136-3 after losing 111 career victories the NCAA forced Penn State to vacate over the past 15 seasons, starting from 1998. “The 1998 date was selected because that’s when the first (child abuse) incident was reported,” Emmert said. “The university’s failures began at that point.” Now future generations of Nittany Lions will suffer for the sins of the all-powerful Paterno, who was See GRAVE, Page 4B
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AP PHOTO
Penn State football was all but leveled Monay by an NCAA ruling that wiped away 14 years of former coach Joe Paterno’s victories and imposed a mountain of fines and penalties.
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PSU fans will be Prouder at game Student’s call for positivity on Facebook has more than 4,000 supporters already. By DEREK LEVARSE dlevarse@timesleader.com
STATE COLLEGE -- One Penn State student, surveying the damage to her school from her internship in Mexico City, decided to try to make an impact from 2,500 miles away. Four hours after the NCAA dropped the hammer on Penn State, Dani Lichliter took to Facebook to rally fellow students, alumni and fans into showing their support for the football team for the season opener on Sept. 1 against Ohio at Beaver Stadium. Titling the event “Louder and Prouder: 9/1/12,” Lichliter, a California native entering her senior year, asked people to “please use this event to share your love for Penn State. Share your favorite football memories and all the positive things that make this the only university you would ever want to attend. Please do not use this as a place to criticize the decisions of others, namely the NCAA, or to complain about what has happened.” By Monday evening, 4,000 people had already responded favorably to invitations to attend the event. “Penn State is my home and where I really grew up,” Lichliter wrote in an email. “I wanted to create an event that would be completely positive and full of Penn State love. ... “When I made the event, I sort of had an inkling that it would become extremely popular. Penn Staters love their school more than you could possibly imagine and finding ways to come together and
Paterno fallout On any other day in NCAA history, a new name atop the all-time college football wins list would be seismic news. On Monday, Joe Paterno’s fall from the No. 1 spot was almost a footnote in the string of penalties the NCAA imposed on Penn State football. The program was forced to vacate all wins from 1998-2011, giving Paterno 298 official victories instead of the Division I record 409 he had at the time of his firing in November. Late Grambling coach Eddie Robinson (408 wins) will regain the Division I crown, while Bobby Bowden, who retired from Florida State after the 2009 season, is again atop the list for major (FBS) programs. The decision prompted an outcry from the family of the former coach, who died in January, and sadness from people on campus. “They’re completely disregarding Joe and his whole legacy,” said Nate Fuentes, a Penn State freshman who attended State College High School. “They’re just taking everything from it. It’s like
L
TUESDAY, JULY 24, 2012 PAGE 5B
Area coaches watch as Lions are tamed By PAUL SOKOLOSKI psokoloski@timesleader.com
N O T E S support it have proven themselves to be very beneficial in times like these. I hope that the event will be used to share positive memories and comments about Penn State because we are so much more than the few administrators that let us down. “We are so much more than the football program. We are 96,000 strong and they can’t take away the memories, the academics, the charity, and the people that make up Penn State.”
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AP PHOTO
A sign and a small figure of former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno hangs at Gate A of Beaver stadium on the Penn State University main campus in State College on Monday. The NCAA announced sanctions against the Penn State University football program on Monday as a result of the child sexual abuse case of former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
piling on. He’s turning in his grave right now because they’re taking everything he stood for. “I know he did wrong. I know that. He should have done more. They’re taking everything away from him. I don’t think it’s fair.” Earlier this month, Paterno was judged to have been part of a cover-up by the Freeh Report, an investigation commissioned by Penn State to determine why allegations of child abuse went unreported by the school for years. In response, Paterno’s statue outside of Beaver Stadium was removed on Sunday morning. Other symbols of Paterno, however, remain on campus. Paterno Library, built with funding from the late coach and his wife Sue, will keep its name. And Penn State’s Creamery will continue to sell “Peachy Paterno” ice cream, donating proceeds from sales of the flavor to an organization that works with child abuse, according to The Associated Press. Another painful coincidence for Penn State fans -- in the view of the NCAA, the Nittany Lions’ last win now came on Nov. 22, 1997, against Wisconsin. The quarterback in that game was Mike McQueary, who would become a key wit-
ness against Sandusky and was the one to initially report allegations of abuse to Paterno in 2001. Legal concerns The Michael L. Buckner Law Firm, which follows collegiate and high school sports cases, again raised objections Monday to the NCAA’s decision to impose sanctions without following its typical process. “The NCAA’s actions, no matter how noble and justified to address the egregious behavior in the Penn State case, have charted an unprecedented course of action and created a ‘slippery slope’ for future incidents,” the firm said in a statement. The firm argued that the NCAA violated its bylaws by granting President Mark Emmert what amounted to emergency authority to punish Penn State in lieu of traditional enforcement procedures. “We are extremely concerned about the process the NCAA utilized to issue its sanctions,” the firm said. “We conclude (these) issues would be best left in the expert hands of the criminal and civil courts, the federal Departments of Justice and Education, the Pennsylvania General Assembly and the relevant accrediting agencies.”
It wasn’t so much shock as sympathy. Because while local high school coaches believe the NCAA was justified in handing down sanctions to Penn State, they’re concerned the wrong people were punished. “I don’t agree with hurting the current players,” said Hanover Area coach Ron Hummer, a longtime Penn State fan. “They’re punishing the wrong people, I think. I just can’t see how the NCAA can come in and say to the kids they’re being punished for something they didn’t do.” Along with a four-year bowl ban, Penn State suffered the loss of 20 scholarships per season over the next four years, along with a five-year probationary period among the sanctions handed down by the NCAA. And if such a scenario makes them reconsider playing for Penn State, current players will be allowed to transfer to other institutions without sitting out the normallymandatory one season as a penalty. “It’s extremely shocking,” Wyoming Valley West coach Pat Keating said. “It think it’s going to be at least a decade until they get back to where they want to be as a football program.” Those consequences were handed down by the NCAA on Monday for the school’s role – according the recently-released Freeh Report – in covering up the sexual abuse of young boys against former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, who was convicted of 45 charges last month. “They put the wood to Penn State,” said veteran Wyoming Valley Conference coach George Curry, who will return to Berwick this season. “They (Penn State leaders) blew it in this respect: you’re not dealing with a player violation, recruiting violation, you’re dealing with a child
molester here. “I think they deserve what they got.” Yet, some coaches believe the innocent kids currently playing football at Penn State – along with new head coach and former New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and his staff – will be hurt most by the sanctions. “I’m a little surprised at the severity of the sanctions on the football program itself,” GAR coach Paul Wiedlich Jr. said. “It was more of an institutional problem. I feel bad for the kids who are there and the new coaching staff. They had nothing to do with what happened in the past.” Mostly, everyone’s more concerned with Penn State’s future. With incoming freshmen including linebacker Nyeem Wartman from Valley View and former Wyoming Valley West star Eugene Lewis facing the prospect of playing a whole college career without a bowl game, it’ll be interesting to see how many players remain at Penn State. “We’ve been texting a lot today. It’s been a really crazy day,” said Keating of his communication with Lewis. “A lot of coaches from universities all over the country have been contacting him, trying to see where he stands. He may know already. He may take a day or two to digest everything and make a decision from there.” Lewis’ father, the Rev. Eugene Lewis, told The Times Leader his son plans to honor his commitment to Penn State. Curry hopes they all do. “I just hope the players don’t leave,” Curry said. “They’re playing for a good coach and he’s an NFL guy. They can still win. They’ve got enough talent to tide them over. They’re not going to a bowl game. “But if they’re not going to a BCS game, there are kids who would rather be home for Christmas.”
Alumni displeased with sanctions Many state their support for Penn State and its football program via social media.
“If you remove those three or four people responsible, Penn State is a great place to play.”
MONTY SAYS
Dwayne Downing Former area HS coach
By JAY MONAHAN For The Times Leader
Penn State football players may have been instructed not to speak with the media but the team’s alumni base expressed their displeasure Monday with the NCAA’s sanctions on the program. Several notable alums moved to social media to express their dismay with the decision. Adam Taliaferro took the news of vacated wins particularly hard. The former Nittany Lion cornerback suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury during a game in 2000. Taliaferro said on his Twitter account, “NCAA says games didn’t exist..I got the metal plate in my neck to prove it did..I almost died playing 4 PSU..punishment or healing?!?” Former Bishop Hoban and Meyers football coach Dwayne Downing has been emotionally involved in the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal for the past eight months. Downing, who played for Joe Paterno as a defensive back on the 1986 national championship-winning team, said he still “feels horrible” about the abuse and knew severe punishment was on the horizon for the university. “My initial reaction was shock,” Downing said. “I knew something was certainly going to happen to the program. It was only inevitable something was going to be done. The NCAA sure did make a statement.” Citing the school’s athletic reputation, Downing – a 1988 Penn State graduate – said the past eight months serves as a “black eye on the program, not the university”. Younger football alumni were more vehement in their dissent.
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Former Penn State defensive end and recent Minnesota Vikings signee Eric Latimore said on his Twitter account, “Oh and yea the 60+ million is goin to child abuse lol? Believe that right?” Devon Still, a recent Penn State graduate and Cincinnati Bengals second-round pick, said on his Twitter account, “Lost as to how taking away wins solves anything...especially wen the ppl being punished did nothing wrong.” Downing said that he thought the NCAA’s decision was too premature. “Let’s be honest here – in no way do we want to minimize what happened,” he prefaced. “It’s just disturbing to think about and it makes it hard to talk about some of these things. “But it would be nice to see all of the information before the sanctions was imposed. I’m not trying to make excuses – what he did was the most heinous crime imaginable.” Downing said that he thought the decision should have been made after athletic director Tim Curley and former school president Graham Spanier’s trial. “I understand making that call; I don’t want to say there is a rush to judgment,” Downing said. “It’s tough having the NCAA announcing that decision while two cases are still in court.” Downing and other football alumni are upset, he said, that Penn State student-athletes will be denied some athletic and academic opportunities. “It’s a little disheartening,” Downing said. “We feel bad for the kids; some of them were just
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