The Penn State story just keeps looking worse and worse--especially for the late Joe Paterno.
Just over a week ago, CNN released a stunning report, based on archived emails, that indicated that the university's administration and Paterno were fully aware of the allegations against former football assistant Jerry Sandusky as early as 2001. The emails also hinted at the possibility that former president Graham Spanier, former athletic director Tim Curley, former vice president Gary Schultz and Paterno considered, but ultimately decided against, taking the allegations against Sandusky to the proper authorities.
In the immediate wake of that report, the Paterno family lamented the selective nature of the leak, and asked that judgment not be passed on Paterno until results of the full internal Penn State investigation--and the entirety of the emails that it contains--were released. The implication, of course, was that the early leaks purposely made not only Paterno but the other officials look especially bad.
Well, according to a new report from ESPN, the full release may not ultimately do Paterno's legacy any favors.
According to the report from Don Van Natta Jr., sources close to the internal Penn State investigation say the final report on the matter "is expected to be tough on Paterno," and that a great deal of it will focus on the perhaps too-powerful "culture" that surrounded Penn State football under the former coach.
As one anonymous source to Van Natta Jr.: "Much of the focus will be on the culture of the football program, with findings that go back more than a decade. It's going to be very tough on Joe."
The investigation, based on hundreds of interviews and a review of internal records, has been in the works for the past eight months. The final report could be released to the public as soon as this week.
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