The aftermath of the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State and subsequent NCAA sanctions against the university lives on, as the Paterno family is expected to announce a lawsuit against the NCAA on Wednesday’s episode of “Costas Tonight” at 11 p.m. on NBC Sports Network.
From Dustin Hockensmith of PennLive.com:
Among the guests on the show are Paterno family attorney Wick Sollers, former Pennsylvania Gov. Dick Thornburgh and Paterno family spokesman Dan McGinn.
The three men will announce on the show a new lawsuit against the NCAA on behalf of Penn State and the Paterno family, (NBC’s Adam) Freifeld told PennLive today.
The Paternos have praised Gov. Tom Corbett’s federal trust lawsuit against the NCAA and has long been rumored to file a suit of its own. The family demanded an appeal of NCAA sanctions against Penn State’s football program last summer, which were based on findings from the Freeh report.
Bob Costas, of course, famously interviewed Sandusky in November of 2011 when the scandal broke. Hockensmith‘s report notes that, “Costas has expressed a degree of skepticism about the Freeh report’s findings and said the Paterno family had reason to conduct an investigation of its own.”
However, the University is not a part of the Paternos’ suit, releasing a statement distancing themselves from the family’s legal actions, per Ben Jones of State College.com.
The aftermath of the Sandusky scandal and alleged cover-up by Penn State administrators has been severe and costly. It ultimately cost Joe Paterno his job and led to Penn State senior vice president Gary Schultz resigning, athletic director Tim Curley taking a leave of absence and president Graham Spanier being forced to resign.
The NCAA struck down hard on the university, levying a $60 million fine, four-year football postseason ban, vacating all wins from 1998 on and decreasing the amount of scholarships the football team would have at its disposal.
Other lawsuits were filed in response to how the situation was handled. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett filed a lawsuit against the NCAA, as did Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Jake Corman.
The NCAA promptly filed its own lawsuit against Corbett and the state of Pennsylvania after Corbett signed a law into effect that would ensure all of the $60 million fine levied against Penn State would be spent in the state.
It’s been a messy set of circumstances, and given this latest lawsuit, one that seems far from ending.
