Penn State deserves the death penalty



Penn State is the poster child for where the NCAA should step in and shut down a program. After the Freeh report came out, it is indisputable that the actions of those in power at Penn State, its football program and school leadership, aided and abetted a child rapist. This was all for the purpose of protecting a storied football program and university.



The NCAA should lay the hammer down on Penn State, because if ever there was a case of corruption, lack of institutional control, and a destruction of the moral turpitude of a program, it was at Penn State.

The harshest punishment the NCAA can deliver to a program is the "death penalty".

What is the death penalty? From wikipedia:

The death penalty is the popular term for the National Collegiate Athletic Association's power to ban a school from competing in a sport for at least one year. It is the harshest penalty that an NCAA member school can receive.
It has been implemented only five times:
  1. The University of Kentucky basketball program for the 1952–53 season.[1]
  2. The basketball program at the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) for the 1973–74 and 1974–75 seasons.
  3. The Southern Methodist University football program for the 1987 and 1988 seasons.
  4. The Division II men's soccer program at Morehouse College for the 2004 and 2005 seasons.
  5. The Division III men's tennis program at MacMurray College for the 2005–06 and 2006–07 seasons.
Requirements for "death penalty" under NCAA Rules:

The repeat-violator legislation (“death penalty”) is applicable to an institution if, within a five-year period, the following conditions exist:
  • Following the announcement of a major case, a major violation occurs and
  • The second violation occurred within five years of the starting date of the penalty assessed in the first case. The second major case does not have to be in the same sport as the previous case to affect the second sport.
  • Penalties for repeat violators of legislation, subject to exemptions authorized by the committee on the basis of specifically stated reasons, may include any of the following:
  • The prohibition of some or all outside competition in the sport involved in the latest major violation for one or two sport seasons and the prohibition of all coaching staff members in that sport from involvement (directly or indirectly) in any coaching activities at the institution during that period
  • The elimination of all initial grants-in-aid and recruiting activities in the sport involved in the latest major violation in question for a two-year period.
  • The requirement that all institutional staff member serving on the NCAA Board of Directors; Leadership, Legislative, Presidents or Management Councils; Executive Committee or other Association governance bodies resign their positions. All institutional representatives shall be ineligible to serve on any NCAA committee for a period of four years and
  • The requirement that the institution relinquish its Association voting privileges for a four-year period.
Just like with any "rules" or "law" there is the letter of law, the intent of the law, and the spirit of the law. Basically you can violate a rule without violating the letter of it. So even with the "death penalty" a person who does not have repeat violations in a five year period, can be assessed the "death penalty" if the offense is particularly egregious.


Dating back to 1998, the powers that be knew that Jerry Sandusky was having at the bare minimum, inappropriate contact with young boys. By 2002, they knew he was raping young boys in football facilities. From AOL.sportingnews.com:
Duquesne University law professor Wes Oliver said the report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh reads like a prosecution case for a child endangerment charge against Paterno, then-President Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and now-retired vice president Gary Schultz.
When they could have sent this predator to prison, they did not, and between 1998-present, Sandusky raped other boys. The report shows that Joe Paterno cared more about his legacy and that of the school than the safety of children.

Why should the NCAA get involved?



  • Unfair advantage

Sandusky was a preeminent defensive coordinator for Penn State, assisting them in obtaining two national championships.  He was set to take over the head coaching position. Sandusky continued, after raping a child in the showers in Penn State football facilities, to bring children to practices and games.   Had he been imprisoned, a lot of the Nittany Lions's successes would probably not have occurred. 


  • Lack of institutional control

When the head coach, Joe Paterno, the athletic director Tim Curley received information from Mike McQueary about the rape of a little boy in a shower, they did virtually nothing. Then allegedly lied to the grand jury about it. This was all to protect the school and its football program.

Every action, reaction, and inaction was to cover Penn State University and Penn State University Nittany Lions football.  It completely violates the spirit of the rule that deals with the "death penalty" under NCAA code.

  • Egregious act
There are ten known victims of Jerry Sandusky.  He sodomized, raped, molested, threatened, violated and destroyed the lives of children who were already in a vulnerable state. He created a charity that was tied to Penn State, that kept him a ready supply of victims. 

Sandusky used his position in the community to quiet his victims, used his tie to the football program to escape earlier prosection, and used the facilities at Penn State to carry out his terror.  The man is facing over a hundred years in prison sentences.  His heinous crimes were covered up by Penn State University.


If the NCAA does not act in this case, then I question the real reason for its existence.  Penn State should lose at least 5 seasons of play, the current players should be allowed to transfer, and the program needs to start over from scratch.

I had this discussion with my homeboy, @cltgeechie, yesterday, then heard Stephen A. Smith repeat my EXACT sentiments on ESPN this morning.

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