NCAA Email Shows Penn State Narrowly Avoided Death Penalty In 2012

The NCAA was close to shutting down the Penn State football program in 2012 after the Jerry Sandusky child abuse scandal.

The NCAA came down very hard on Penn State in 2012 for its handling of former football coach Jerry Sandusky’s child abuse scandal.

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The initial sanctions included a four-year postseason ban, the vacating of all wins from 1998-2011 and a $60 million fine.

However, the punishment was almost much steeper than those sanctions.

A recently uncovered email from an NCAA lawyer sent in 2012 shows that Penn State was almost handed the death penalty.

From the AP:

"The email from NCAA attorney Donald Remy says the school’s “cooperation and transparency” saved the program.(…)The email recounts that on July 17, 2012 — less than a week before the Penn State sanctions were announced — a majority on the NCAA executive committee favored the “death penalty” that would shut down the football program for several years.In the September 2012 email, Remy reiterated that he had previously told Marsh that the death penalty was not reserved for repeat offenders and that a traditional enforcement process would likely result in its imposition.“In a subsequent call we informed you that it was Penn State’s cooperation and transparency that encouraged members of the executive committee to forgo the pursuit of a stop in play,” Remy wrote."

In retrospect, it seems many feel the NCAA’s penalties of Penn State were too harsh. The NCAA’s decision to end the bowl ban and restore scholarships in September perhaps show even the NCAA might feel they were too much.

So, one could only imagine the criticism the NCAA would be receiving these days had they actually given Penn State the death penalty.

Regardless, it truly is incredible to read those emails and see how close the NCAA was to doling out such a punishment.

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