NCAA President Mark Emmert decimated Penn State’s football program Monday morning when he announced a $60 million fine, four year postseason ban and the vacation of all wins from 1998-2011.
The punishment achieved two goals:
1. Permanently stain Joe Paterno’s legacy. JoePa is no longer the all-time winningest coach in NCAA football history. With the removal of his statue and its surrounding walls of honor, Paterno will never be realized as the standup guy he was portrayed to be and implored his players to become. For anyone who doesn’t get it, understand this: From 1998 onward, Paterno knew that his potential head coaching heir was a child predator. Paterno’s office was only feet from Jerry Sandusky’s and for 14 years Paterno swept the rape of children under the rug. So too did university president Graham Spanier, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley (Schultz and Curley face perjery charges and Spanier will likely face legal action as well). So too did the police department, who determined there was not enough information to permit action in 1998 and 2001. The culture of concealment was real, and the 267-page Freeh Report, funded by the University itself, found the culture to be headed by Paterno himself.
One can argue that Paterno did enough when he reported what he heard to his “superiors.” In fact, just yesterday a guy told me he thought Paterno didn’t do anything wrong. Really? The guy said he couldn’t blame Paterno because Sandusky was his friend. This evoked a mixed reaction: I would love to be this guys friend because he would be loyal for life, but I would hate to be his friend because he would stand by anyone. (I ultimately sided with the latter thought. A good friend of a child predator calls the police.) The fact of the matter is, if Paterno wanted to cleanse his program over a decade ago, he could have. He did not. Paterno, as well as the above mentioned administrators, chose to protect Paterno’s false legacy rather than protect children.
2. Financially decimate Penn State football. The $60 million fine will go to help abused kids. But the elimination of potential future earnings for Penn State will exceed $60 million. Endorsement deals will disappear. Bowl bonuses will not exist for four years, and when they return Penn State will learn just how much the Lumber Liquidators Bowl pays. Big recruits want to play in big games, so do not be surprised when you hear more stories like this. Mark Emmert punished Penn State by making it impossible for them to win anything substantial for about a decade.
But wasn’t the point that football is about more than wins and loses? The NCAA wanted to embarrass Penn State and financially crush them as well. However, as usual, the perpetrators will not pay the NCAA’s penalty (think USC with Reggie Bush and Pete Carroll). The ones punished are the current players, current head coach Bill O’Brien who left the New England Patriots for this gig and the fans who had nothing to do with the blood-on-your-hands myopia of the former administration.
There were other options. The elimination of Paterno’s wins upsets no one but the most idiotic of Penn State fans. He won those games while concealing a predator. JoePa said ethics are more important than winning. JoePa would have approved of the sanctions against him.
But as for the current players, why punish them? Let them play. Put the program under probation for now until the end of time. Put so many compliance officers on campus that O’Brien would break into a cold sweat if he saw so much as a player cutting line at a bar. Do not eliminate scholarships for hard-working student-athletes. If the team plays well, let them go to a bowl. Take the money and donate that too. But let the current team be a cause for good. Let their wins, done the right way, be the balm that cures. Do not allow football to be profitable for years. But do allow football to be healing.
Mark Emmert made an example of Penn State. The college presidents, who Emmery represents, still think they control their universities. They do not. But given carte blanche to vaporize a morally deplorable program, they pulled the trigger. They need to check their aim.
The Big Guy
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