NCAA Will Announce “Unprecedented” Penalties Against both Penn State University Football and the University

CBS News is reporting that the hammer is about to fall on Penn State University, Maybe even a Sledgehammer!

The NCAA is about to announce Monday morning “unprecedented” penalties against both the Penn State football team and PennState University. One individual describes it as, “I’ve never seen anything like it.” The penalties are in response to the hideous Jerry Sandusky sexual abuse convictions and the more recent independent report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that chronicled repeated efforts by four top Penn State officials, including Joe Paterno, to conceal allegations of serial child sex abuse by Jerry Sandusky over a 14 year period.

CBS News has learned that the NCAA will announce what a high-ranking association source called “unprecedented” penalties against both the Penn State University football team and the school.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” the source told correspondent Armen Keteyian.

NCAA President Mark Emmert will make the announcement Monday morning at 9 a.m. at the organization’s headquarters in Indianapolis.

The removal of the Joe Paterno statue in front of Beaver stadium is the least of PSU’s worries when it comes to NCAA sanctions and penalties. However, it is being reported that Penn State football will not receive the “death penalty” like that of the infamous SMU Mustangs of the 1980′s. But could the “death penalty” actually be preferable?  As reported at ESPN, NCAA president Mark Emmert has decided to punish Penn State with severe penalties likely to include a significant loss of scholarships and loss of multiple bowls. Normally, a football program is sanctioned for illegal recruiting or habitual practices against NCAA rules.

But Penn State will not receive the so-called “death penalty” that would have suspended the program for at least one year, the source said.

The penalties, however, are considered to be so harsh that the death penalty may have been preferable, the source said.

The NCAA will announce “corrective and punitive measures” for Penn State on Monday morning, it said in a statement Sunday. Emmert will reveal the sanctions at 9 a.m. ET in Indianapolis at the organization’s headquarters along with Ed Ray, the chairman of the NCAA’s executive committee, and Oregon State’s president, the news release said.

It is expected the NCAA Division I Board of Directors and/or the NCAA Executive Committee has granted Emmert the authority to punish through nontraditional methods, the source told Schad.

What exactly could punishment through nontraditional methods mean?I am wondering if there will not only be the typical loss of scholarships and bowl appearance, but also revenue form the football program going to non-profit programs for sexually exploited children? Also, will there be a third-party individual be put in place to oversee practices at the university?

Fantastic analysis at Red State of the on going lack of lack of institutional  control with the Penn State football team and the fact that actions have consequences.

Great points made at the Sporting News as to the NCAA’s credibility when it comes to exacting penalties on colleges. Let’s hope the penalties have a few more teeth than the ones provided to Ohio St and the Cam Newton scenario at Auburn. While many are questioning whether the NCAA will do the right thing, my gut tells me that because the crimes that took place at Penn State transcended sports, recruiting and illegal pay for play … I think that they are about to bring the sledgehammer down on Happy Valley.