Posted on 06/17/2013 3:00:44 PM PDT by FlJoePa
In a dramatic show of support for their old coach, more than 300 former Penn State football players are now publicly backing the Paterno family's lawsuit against the NCAA. Former Nittany Lion Brian Masella released a letter on Monday demanding due process and the truth.
"We're glad we're able to show these guys – the Penn State alumni, the student and the trustees willing to step forward that we're behind them 100 percent," Masella tells Statecollege.com. "We want to show them they're not standing there alone, all by themselves, on a cliff."
On May 29, the Paterno family, along with 20 other plaintiffs including former Penn State football players, coaches, trustees and faculty members, sued the NCAA. They have asked a judge to abolish the consent decree which would reverse Penn State's sanctions.
Those sanctions include a $60 million fine, a significant loss of scholarships for the football team, a four-year postseason ban for the football team and all wins vacated under Paterno between 1998-2011.
Masella says the letter is not sanctioned by Penn State. At the trustees' meeting in March, several former football players addressed the board, voicing support for Paterno. Later, they decided they had to do something more. The letter is intended to show the plaintiffs that a large contingent of Lettermen is in their corner.
Masella started with the contacts he had in his email, and it grew from there. Players forwarded his email to other players, and it traveled around the country.
"We wanted to do something for them, to bolster what they have done. We think it's totally brave we do this, obviously, with the intent of finding the truth," Masella says. "We support them 100 percent."
Masella believes this is "the right thing to do."
"We thought it would be a great gesture," Masella says. The more than 300 signatures span six decades of Penn State football, and include signatures from some Penn State greats, including Franco Harris, Todd Blackledge, OJ McDuffie, Kerry Collins and Paul Posluszny. It also includes the signatures of former coaches Dick Anderson and Booker Brooks. Both men testified for the defense in the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse trial last year.
The letter and the names of those who signed it appears below:
Letter from Former Penn State Football Players:
On May 30, 2013, twenty people – including five Penn State Trustees, four faculty members, two former coaches, and nine former student-athletes, filed a lawsuit challenging the NCAA's sanctions against Penn State.
On the same day, the plaintiffs sent the former Penn State football players a letter explaining their rationale for taking legal action. The letter notes that the plaintiffs intend to fight for Penn State's honor and that they hope the former student-athletes "will be supportive of these efforts."
We, the undersigned, indeed support the plaintiffs' action in launching their suit.
Like them, we reject the NCAA's assertion that a "culture of reverence for the football program" allowed Jerry Sandusky's crimes to occur. We agree with the plaintiffs that the Freeh Report, which formed the foundation for the sanctions – was fundamentally flawed.
We stand with our nine brother Lettermen and the other eleven Penn Staters in demanding "fairness, due process, truth, and a just outcome." Everyone – Sandusky's victims, Penn Staters, and the public at large – deserves to know the complete truth."
Doesn’t matter how many of his pals are willing to say nice things about him, that scumbag Paterno allowed a predator to go on preying on boys.
I don’t care how many football games he won, or how many of his former players still like him. Facts are facts, and the facts are damning.
Paterno either kept a known liar on his staff, or he knew about Sandusky’s “peculiarities”. There’s no third option.
May be burn in hell for what he let his pal Jerry to do those boys, and shame on any apologists who let him off the book because he was good at football.
Joe was told about the incident the day after it happened. he reported it to the head of the organization who removed access and reported it to the police.
and you’re saying this was the absolute minimum?
i see.
of course, if it were you... you’d run to sandusky’s house and burn it down.
suuuure you would.
Well, I think there are reservations there as well Sunken. I firmly believe that JS belongs in jail - make no mistake about it.
But I also think he received a rushed, and not so fair trial. SOME of the victims and their attorneys are looking at PSU as an ATM machine, and a spineless administration that won’t put up a fight will (by nature) encourage that.
The one thing about this case is that it is of such a disgusting subject matter that NO ONE in the media will touch it. Defending Joe or defending Penn State means you encourage and enable pedophilia.
It’s an understandable reaction, but it doesn’t make what has been reported - and even adjudicated (in some counts) thus far the absolute truth.
Kevin Slaten, John Ziegler, Franco Harris, and Ray Blehar have all done outstanding work on this. Slaten brought Bob Costas on board and he now realizes that the freeh report is garbage.
The fact that all these players have now signed on - especially Blackledge - who is the best analyst in college football, and employed by espn - is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The work by Jim Clemente (who is THE expert in this field), along with the gravitas of Dick Thornburgh is another step.
But you see right here on THIS forum how hard it is. Of all places to believe the MSM and people like louis freeh....I would think we could at least wait until we hear what Tim Curley has to say before seeing some of the things I see here.
Penn State is a fantastic University. Joe Paterno led an exemplary life. Penn State Football has been a model program for as long as most of us have been alive. The characterizations of all of them is not fair, and I (for one) won’t go away until we get the truth.
i see.
so you would run to the police with hearsay, demand action, and take the law into your own hands when you felt nothing had been done.
yup, you’re a screaming nutjob that has no idea how the law and law enforcement works and would find yourself in prison pretty quick. i’m guessing you’d do squat... otherwise, you’d be raging at the homosexuals teaching the kids in the public schools in your town
and your evidence for this is what????
Facts are facts, and the facts are damning.
and what facts are those???
You all have the same grasp on our legal system as Ben Crump, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and the Trayvonistas trying to railroad an innocent man down in Sanford, Florida.
Have you?
Sten wasn’t the one running his internet mouth, condemning a dead man with absolutely no proof of any misconduct on his part, other than sensationalized media headlines.
I assume you would be smart enough to not do the same, correct?
Wow! Do you think running to the local high school and demanding that they get rid of all homosexuals is not impulsive and dangerous?
In JoPa’s case, HE KNEW EXACTLY what Sandusky was doing for many, many years and didn’t to a damn thing!
Who’s the nut job? JoPa was complicit by NOT TELLING THE POLICE WHAT HE KNEW INSTANTLY. Instead, he let the football seasons go along, knowing fully well that Sandusky was a stinking pervert and didn’t do a thing! I’m nutz?
Guess you can’t win with a Penn State fan, but I think it’s a shame that JoPa didn’t live long enough to go to a trial for his part in the madness that was going on in the locker rooms.
he knew exactly what? what evidence do you have of anything you’re spewing?
ans: none
just another crazy buckeye fan
but hey... i’m glad to know the instant you hear someone gossiping about some such event, you’ll be there to burn their house down if the cops don’t do as you expect
Now you’re just writing fiction.
Sad to see stuff like this here. Can you read? Have you read the freeh report? The King & Spalding report? ANYTHING from Ziegler, Blehar? Have you watched Costas backtrack?
You don’t even read my posts for crying out loud. I just pointed out to your dumb ass how Joe DID go to the police, yet you ignored it. I don’t want to call you names but sheesh, you deserve it.
Do you know ANYTHING about this? I don’t think you do. I understand you’re probably a Buckeye fan, but grow up and learn something before you go off on people like that.
And what is your evidence for that accusation???
JoPa was complicit by NOT TELLING THE POLICE WHAT HE KNEW INSTANTLY.
And what exactly was it that he knew??? All he knew was the story that Mike McQueary told him -- a story that has changed many times over the years and was not believed by the Sandusky jury.
You sound just like Al Sharpton who loves to leve; serious charges but without evidence. Are you sure you're on the right forum???
Golly, he went to the police and let the pervert continue to roam the campus, use the shower rooms, etc., for HOW MANY YEARS?
Clearly these player should have had better helmets.
Maurice Clarett is smarter than this.
His website is here.
John Ziegler's (of Sarah Palin fame) website is here
Collective efforts are here
All these credible people - most with no ties to Penn State sticking their necks out doing fantastic investigative work - for no money. Contrast that with espn.
I don't want to speak for Blehar, but he has said repeatedly that there is a federal investigation underway and more indictments are on their way. Of course, they have absolutely nothing to do with the football program at Penn State.
No innocent man here, just the innocent boys Paterno couldn’t have cared less about.
Read his own testimony. Either Paterno deliberately kept a liar on his staff, or he knew that Sandusky was diddling kids. Those are the only two options.
Oh, but it’s okay. Football and all.
Paterno’s kids played around with Sandusky growing up.
Do you think Paterno would have permitted that if he knew Sandusky was pedophile???
Do you think Mrs Paterno would have let her kids anywhere near him???
I read his testimony??? Did you???
Have you read anything in this case or are you just willfully ignorant???
You are no better than Al Sharpton.
Thanks for posting this latest news/article and various links.
Interesting ongoing developments, even some behind the scenes my oldest brother is involved with...and he’s one of the vocal and involved alumni who didn’t like Paterno’s coaching and wanted him to retire a decade or more ago, lol.
I really hope we succeed in getting Seoond Mile investigated fully. The Media continues to ignore this “elephant in the room.” It shouldn’t still surprise me that low info people continue to blame this on Paterno, the one person who actually reported what he was told, while ignoring the multi-million dollar charity where Sandusky’s victims orignated from...but the Media had their scapegoat,the corrupt NCAA had their payoff, the PSU Admin and BOT had their asses covered,politicians, their donors, and Child Protective Services were off the hook, and the masses had their entertainment and bloodlust satisfied.
And the masses still don’t realize that Sandusky was acquitted of the assault charges regarding the incident in the on campus building shower. The charge that Media played over and over again, that has the entertainment watchers all up in arms is the charge he got an acquittal for lack of evidence.
None of this had anything to do with the football program at Penn State or the “football culture” or “sports culture” that liberals are trying their damndest to decimate and place the blame of all societal ills on. It has more to do with the PC/Liberal culture that has infested our society.
Where’s the media reporting on his sex crimes against boys, all boys? Can’t say that, it’s all about child sexual abuse, no mention of the sex of his targets. Same thing they did with the Catholic Church homosexual sex abuse scandal. Same thing many of the masses are doing, Conservatives and liberals alike.
Makes my head spin, lol.
Most of the info will come out but we won’t get the 24/7 news cycle on it. The masses, of all varieties, won’t see it. The Media set and followed their Agenda.
This from a man who chastised his daughter for eating a cucumber slice from her sister's plate (only one had paid for the all you can eat salad bar) to the point where he called her a shyster and stormed out of the restaurant.
And you believe he enabled a pedophile based on what? Media headlines and an egregious AG's presentment? The same AG's office that initially praised him for his cooperation and said he was accused of no crime?
Where do people like you get off making claims like you do?
Just a bunch of nuts - jealous of Joe's successes is all I can think of. People like you and the jackals in the media (who he told to eff off time and time again) were waiting to get him. JS gave you an opportunity of a lifetime. Enjoy it, because none of it is true and it WILL be proven in time.
Sad that some that couldn't beat his players on the field and especially in the classroom resort to this. But envy and jealousy are apparently powerful motivations.
I’ve been amazed at the ignorance on this forum - one I’ve been a proud member of since reporting live from the 2000 election nonsense from an office overlooking downtown West Palm Beach.
Many times I’ve considered leaving simply because of this issue. But I’m resolute and I don’t care how many obscene freepmails I receive, I know what’s right and wrong.
Joe was right, they are wrong. Period.
Thanks for your support and hope to bump into you at a tailgate sometime.
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