NCAA Drops the Hammer on Penn State … $60 Million Fine, 4 Year Ban on Bowl Games, Vacate All Wins from 1998-2011 (Paterno No Longer Winniest Coach) … Current & Incoming Players Can Leave PSU and Play Immediately

TheNCAA has dropped the hammer on Penn State University and although it was not the death penalty, it might have well have been and might have been worse.

The penalties were severe and due to the unique nature of the Sandusky sexual abuse crimes and the cover up, the NCAA whacked PSU. The sanctions and penalties from NCAA president Mark Emmert are as follows. It was stated they were meant to be corrective and punitive. The sanctions and penalties affect Penn State in the past, present and future.

1. A $60 million sanction, the equivalent of one years revenue of the PSU football team. The funds are be paid into an endowment for external programs preventing child sexual abuse or assisting victims.
2. Four year football postseason ban.
3.  Penn State must vacate wins dating from 1998 to 2011. The career record of former head football coach Joe Paterno will reflect these vacated records. There goes the winniest college football coach record.
4. Penn State must also reduce 10 initial and 20 total scholarships each year for a four-year period.
5. NCAA reserves the right to impose additional sanctions on involved individuals at the conclusion of any criminal proceedings.

CNN had reported that PSU would see fines in excess of $30 million, I’ll say, how about double that.

Emert went on to say that the NCAA recognizes that student-athletes are not responsible for these events and worked to minimize the impact of its sanctions on current and incoming football student-athletes, … “Any entering or returning student-athlete will be allowed to immediately transfer and compete at another school. Further, any football student-athletes who remain at the university may retain their scholarships, regardless of whether they compete on the team.”

Statement from NCAA president Mark Emmert:

In the Penn State case, the results were perverse and unconscionable,” Emmert said.

“No price the NCAA can levy with repair the damage inflicted by Jerry Sandusky on his victims,” he said, reffering to the former Penn State defensive coordinator convicted of 45 counts of child sex abuse last month.

The NCAA’s announcement followed a day after Penn State removed Joe 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 Sandusky.

UPDATE I: What I find interesting is that the NCAA enacted some of the sanctions that SM referenced yesterday and that was the monetary fine and providing the funds to a non-profit for abused children. Also we mentioned that an independent individual would be placed in charge to monitor what was going on with PSU going forward. That was part of today’s sanctions where compliance officers and groups were put in place to review what Penn State will be doing from this point going forward.

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?