(PCM) The NCAA did not give Penn State it’s harshest possible punishment, but it’s total sanctions further hurt the future progress of Penn State, and almost, if not completely, wash away Joe Paterno‘s legacy.
At a press confrence early Monday morning, NCAA president Mark Emmert announced to the world the punishment that Penn State will face. In total, Penn State is faced with $60 Million in fines, a four-year postseason or bowl ban, a decrease in total scholarships, and a vacation of all total wins from 1998-2011. If the NCAA would of gave Penn State it’s harshest penalty called the “Death Penalty”, The Football program would of been completely shut down. This penalty has been used only once in collge football, most notably to Southern Methodist University, cancelling the 1987 and 1988 football seasons. However, SMU violated a recruitment policy, nowhere near the severity of the Penn State and Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse scandal. “No price the NCAA can levy with repair the damage inflicted by Jerry Sandusky on his victims,” said Emmert, who was joined by the NCAA chairman of the executive comittee. Both men spoke at the press confrence held at the organization’s headquarters in Indianapolis.
The $60 million sanction was set for a reason. The NCAA said the total was equivalent to the annual average revenue that the program makes every season. The NCAA ordered Penn State to pay the penalty funds into an endowment for “external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims and may not be used to fund such programs at the university.”
The postseason ban means that Penn State can not participate in bowl games. Bowl games act as a post season for college football programs, and a team can be able to participate in them if they exceed a total number of wins a year. Meaning, regardless of how Penn State finishes it’s season record wise, they can not participate in these games for four years. This comes as another large hit, as bowl games garner a notable amount of revenue for a particular university, and can give positive spotlight. Something Penn State desperately needs at this point. From 1998-2011, Penn State participated in a total of 10 bowl games. They won six of these games.
However, because of further punishments, those 6 bowl victories are vacated, meaning they do not count. Actually, all total wins
from 1998-2011 do not count at all. 111 total wins, including 64 confrence victories, and 2 confrence victories are vacated from Collge football, and Penn State record books. This means Joe Paterno’s coaching record drops from a stellar 409 wins, to 298. This has him fall from #1 on the all-time NCAA winningest coach list to #12. The Penn State athletic program will also be put on five-year probation and must work with an athletic-integrity monitor of NCAA’s chosing. But, not all sanctions are done. The Big Ten, the confrence from which Penn State plays under, has announced that they plan to further discipline the school. implementing a 4 year confrence championship game ban. So, even if the school finishes the football season atop of the confrence, it won’t matter.
Penn State will also lose athletic scholarships. The school will lose 10 scholarships for new students, beginning in 2013-14. The number of total scholarships will be reduced from 85 to 65 for four years, beginning in 2014-15. This particular punishment does not effect students. Students are allowed to immediately trasnfer to another school and not lose a year of playing elgibility, or scholarships. As of the announcement this morning, an unkown recruitment has already left it’s school.
The announcements follow a day after Penn State removed Paterno’s statue outside Beaver Stadium, a decision that came 10 days after a scathing report by former FBI director Louis J. Freeh found that Paterno, with three other top Penn State administrators, had concealed allegations of child sexual abuse made against Jerry Sandusky.