Paterno Family Requests Review of the NCAA Decison

Submitted by bluebyyou on

Well folks, we hadn't heard from the Paterno family for a few days, but fear not, they are back at it.  This time, they are requesting a review of the NCAA sanctions. Where this could lead is somewhat interesting in that they seem to be able, depending upon how the NCAA responds, to take them to court.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/8231167/joe-paterno-family-sends-letter-demanding-appeal-ncaa-sanctions

I believe this isthe pertinent portion of their position and where it might lead:

"Sollers argues in the letter that the NCAA was wrong to suspend its usual infractions committee procedures and accept the findings of the Penn State-commissioned Freeh Report. The report by former FBI director Louis B. Freeh found that Paterno, former Penn State president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz concealed the activities of Sandusky, who was convicted by a jury on June 22 of 45 counts of child sexual abuse.

NCAA spokesman Bob Williams did not immediately respond to a request for a comment. But if the NCAA rejects the request for an appeal hearing, the Paterno family could use the request as the basis for legal action against the NCAA."

/Edit  I also came across a very interesting piece on the negotiations between Penn State and the NCAA - long but worth the read:

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/8228641/inside-secret-negotiations-brought-penn-state-football-brink-extinction

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Section 1

August 3rd, 2012 at 5:28 PM ^

bluebyyou's second link at the bottom of the original post -- the ESPN.com article by Don van Natta Jr. -- is such fantastic reporting, so ridiculously better than the usual crap spilling out of ESPN and SI.  Don van Natta is one of the handful of the best investigative reporters in the world.  He was one of the New York Times' go-to guys, regularly winning Pultizers and crap like that.  Not sports; real news.  On the front page of the Times.  I had no idea he worked for ESPN!  At first, I thought that maybe the ESPN ("Jr") van Natta was the son of the guy at the Times.  But it's actually the same guy.

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LB

August 3rd, 2012 at 7:04 PM ^

I didn't catch the edit and the second link. That looks like a pretty decent reporting job at first glance. It will be interesting to see how this mess plays out over the next few months. I can't help but feel that getting this into court isn't going to do anything positive for the Paternos, but one never knows.

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LSAClassOf2000

August 3rd, 2012 at 5:27 PM ^

I read both articles posted by the OP - this sort of continued denial and posturing on their part is almost too sad to contemplate in a sense. You would think that, in their mind, they are...Penn State. Actually, thanks to Joe and the adoration he received, that might very well be at the core of it. You would think that they would be at least somewhat grateful to Erickson that, thanks to his fighting for literal scraps, he salvaged the program's life, if nothing else. The quality of that life, of course, will suffer for several years, but they will have...something. They don't seem to realize the favor that the NCAA did Penn State in the end - in the second article, many of the chancellors still wanted a multi-year death penalty right up the last minute, it seems. Even if they take the NCAA to court, I don't see the sanctions easing, and in the end, they will have paid lawyers to clear the family name, not even thinking that the problem that started this is much, much larger than that. If there was ever evidence of how football was an overarching theme at Penn State, it is the inability of the Paterno family to even process the last nine months.

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justingoblue

August 3rd, 2012 at 6:21 PM ^

I get that Sue Paterno is an elderly woman who likely didn't know much about this terrible thing her husband did, and I get that Jay Paterno is apparently incapable of getting a coaching job after being canned by O'Brien, but come on. It's time for Sue to enjoy the millions she currently has, and time for Jay to either ask his mom for a check or find a new line of work. Those two and the rest of their family are dragging Joe Paterno's name through the mud more than the NCAA could ever dream of, and it's time for them to take a break.

They're going to accomplish nothing by doing all of this (and worst case, maybe they do get everything overturned and the COI goes with a four year death penalty after all, who knows?) and are burning through money that they'll likely need in court or to pay out settlements to the victims of Paterno's unconscionable silence.

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BlueHills

August 3rd, 2012 at 6:54 PM ^

OK, let's see if I have this right...

School that was affected accepts sanctions it negotiated - with the assistance counsel -waiving all rights of appeal it may otherwise have.

Estate of dead person, against whom no NCAA sanctions were individually imposed, who by virtue of death is unaffected by the NCAA ruling in any way, and whose family got a multimillion dollar buyout negotiated by dead person with the university before being fired, claims standing to appeal sanctions accepted by the school. 

Estate of dead person somehow believes that the outcome of an NCAA hearing would change the NCAA's ruling that the school has consented to.

Have I got this right?

 

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GoBluePhil

August 3rd, 2012 at 7:31 PM ^

I don't believe the Paterno's are any longer affiliated with Penn State. The president acted in the best interest of the school and the university signed a no appeal agreement. So the Paterno's want to sue for what? Oh, I forgot. Legacy. Give them the statue and they can put it up in their front yard. Case settled.

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Roachgoblue

August 3rd, 2012 at 7:54 PM ^

This is how your dad got in trouble. You are NOT bigger than society. Please go play in traffic.

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ESNY

August 3rd, 2012 at 9:13 PM ^

Who ever is advising this family needs to be fired. The more they talk, the worse it makes them seem which you'd think is damn near impossible at this point. The halo of JoePa has been removed and for good reason. Get over it and hope that time will be more kind cause playing the OJ "I'm gonna find the real killer" card is going to do nothing but tarrnish it further.

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delmarblue

August 4th, 2012 at 12:11 AM ^

As a practicing attorney I can tell you the Paternos are grandstanding to save the last thread of Paternos idolatry outside of central pa. If the victims have good attorneys which im sure they do, and psu doesn't settle for massive overpayments, those attorneys are going to eviscerate any last shred of positive legacy Paterno had and the family will wish they would have stayed in their hole.

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TheLastHarbaugh

August 4th, 2012 at 1:02 AM ^

The Penn State fan base is so delusional over this whole thing, that I've actually seen them compare Joe Pa/The Paterno Family to Batman in The Dark Knight rises, more than once.

They keep talking about "due process" as if it means anything within the context of this discussion. 

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