NCAA President Mark Emmert said that he hasn’t ruled out any potential punishment -- not even the so-called “death penalty” -- for Penn State in an interview with PBS’ Tavis Smiley.
Death Penalty For Penn State? NCAA President Figuring Out ‘Right Penalties’
“I’ve never seen anything as egregious as this in terms of just overall conduct and behavior inside a university and hope never to see it again,” Emmert said. “What the appropriate penalties are, if there are determinations of violations, we’ll have to decide.”
Emmert repeatedly emphasized that precedent -- including the SMU case -- isn’t exactly applicable: the Penn State scandal demonstrates a unique, especially egregious scenario that past cases don’t exactly cover, with Emmert classifying the case as “much more than a football scandal.” Emmert’s hesitance to rule anything out can’t be comforting to Penn State fans.
As for action, we won’t hear anything on that for a while. Emmert said that he expects a response from Penn State to the NCAA’s letter of inquiry regarding the Sandusky trial within weeks -- the NCAA will in all likelihood wait to hear what Penn State has to say in that response before handing down any punishments.
For more on Nittany Lions football, visit Penn State blog Black Shoe Diaries, plus Big Ten blog Off Tackle Empire, SB Nation Pittsburgh and SB Nation Philly.
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