(AP)
(AP)
(AP)
Penn State University didn’t get the “death penalty,” but its football team sure got sacked!
The Nittany Lions were all but decimated yesterday by a brutal set of sanctions handed down by the NCAA for the Jerry Sandusky child-molestation coverup that will wipe out 14 years of wins under late head coach Joe Paterno, impose a $60 million fine and bar the team from bowl games for four years.
Blasting the “conspiracy of silence” at Penn State, the NCAA also slashed team’s scholarships.
The final swipe at Paterno — whose statue outside Beaver Stadium in State College, Pa., was ingloriously removed by school officials Sunday — vacated all 112 victories since 1998, knocking the legendary head coach from the top of the NCAA Division I all-time wins list down to 12th place.
Still, the sanctions — which were greeted by Penn State students and alumni with anger and disappointment — fell short of the dreaded “death penalty,” which would have suspended the football team from playing at all.
That threat had loomed since revelations that Paterno, who died in January at 85, and other top school officials failed to take any action to stop his former assistant coach Sandusky from molesting more kids after they were alerted to allegations he had raped a young boy in the team’s locker room.
Sandusky, 68, was convicted last month of 45 criminal counts related to years of sexual abuse of boys, and faces life in prison.
“No price the NCAA can levy will repair the grievous damage inflicted by Jerry Sandusky on his victims,” said NCAA President Mark Emmert in announcing the punishment.
“However, we can make clear that the culture, actions and inactions that allowed them to be victimized will not be tolerated in collegiate athletics.”
Emmert said the sanctions “both reflect the magnitude of these terrible acts and . . . also ensure Penn State will rebuild an athletic culture that went horribly awry.”
The NCAA’s dramatic action came two weeks after a school-sponsored probe headed by former FBI Director Louis Freeh found that top Penn State officials, including Paterno, conspired for years to keep Sandusky’s abuse of kids quiet. Two former Penn State officials — Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley — have been charged with perjury and failing to report child abuse.
“One of the grave dangers stemming from our love of sports is that the sports themselves can become ‘too big to fail’ or even too big to challenge,” Emmert said.
“In the Penn State case, the results were perverse and unconscionable.”
In recognition of Sandusky’s victims, the $60 million in fines will go to support programs nationwide that “serve victims of child sexual abuse and seek to prevent such abuse from happening,” Emmert said.
The figure equals what the football team earns in gross revenue each year.
Penn State officials said they will not appeal the sanctions.
“Today, as every day, our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the victims of Mr. Sandusky and all other victims of child abuse,” said Penn State President Rodney Erickson, whose predecessor, Graham Spanier, was forced to resign in disgrace over the scandal.
“Against this backdrop, Penn State accepts the penalties and corrective actions announced today by the NCAA. With today’s announcement and the action it requires of us, the university takes a significant step forward.”
The football coach, Bill O’Brien, called the sanctions “very harsh.”
But O’Brien also vowed to “do everything in my power to not only comply, but help guide the university forward to become the national leader in ethics, compliance and operational excellence.”
But because of the ban on post-season games for four years — and the elimination of 40 scholarships over a four-year period — O’Brien is faced with a possible mass exodus of current top-notch players from the team as well as a serious handicap when it comes to recruiting new talent.
The NCAA is allowing any Penn State player to transfer to another college team without having to sit out one season — which is the norm for transfers.
Players yesterday met after the stunning announcement, but did not speak to reporters afterward.
However, the mom of Bronx resident Stephen Obeng-Agyapong — a senior safety on Penn State’s team — said the John F. Kennedy HS grad will continue playing for the Nittany Lions, despite the severe sanctions.
“They’re still punishing the school and punishing the children who were not even there when this happened,” Gloria Obeng-Agyapon told The Post.
The team’s other Big Apple product — sophomore wide receiver Shane Phillips of Queens — is also staying put, according to Marcus Louison, his coach at August Martin HS.
Penn State student-body President Courtney Lennartz said, “A lot of the students are angry and disappointed” by the sanctions.
She said that although she understands the $60 million fine, the punishment of the football program means “we’re bearing the brunt of this, even though we had nothing to do with the situation.”
The vacated wins mean the team’s last official victory was on Nov. 22, 1997. The quarterback that day was Mike McQueary, who in 2001, as an assistant coach, said he witnessed Sandusky raping a boy in the showers.
McQueary told Paterno about the rape the next day, but Sandusky kept an office at the school until 2006.
Additional reporting by Liz Sadler and Zach Braziller