Media MonsterNCAA Football

Joe Paterno’s Family Is Conducting An Investigation Into The Freeh Investigation

The results of the investigation into the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State led by Louis Freeh were damning for all of Penn State. But since late former football coach Joe Paterno was by far the most visible person involved, the report’s findings that he played an integral role in what Freeh termed the “total and consistent disregard” for Sandusky’s victims hit especially hard.

And not surprisingly, Paterno’s family wasn’t thrilled with the report’s conclusions. Paterno’s son (and longtime Penn State assistant) Jay did an interview defending his father’s record and questioning Freeh (while also allowing that he should have done more in the case of Sandusky), and today came the news that the Paterno family will have its legal team investigate Freeh’s investigation. The reasons given by the Paterno family for this echo some of Jay Paterno’s critiques of Freeh’s report last week:

We are dismayed by, and vehemently disagree with, some of the conclusions and assertions and the process by which they were developed. Mr. Freeh presented his opinions and interpretations as if they were absolute facts. We believe numerous issues in the report, and his commentary, bear further review.

[...]

After the report was released, we instructed our attorneys and their experts to conduct a comprehensive review of the materials released by the Freeh Group as well as Mr Freeh’s presentation and press conference. We have also asked them to go beyond the report and identify additional information that should be analyzed.

You won’t be surprised to hear that the O.J. comparisons came almost immediately (just like they did from us when Jerry Sandusky’s lawyer laughably claimed Sandusky would conduct his own investigation as part of his quest to prove his innocence). Because as much as the Paterno family says they’re solely interested in “the uncovering of the truth” to “help prevent this sort of tragedy from happening again at Penn State or any other institution,” it’s pretty clear they’re actually doing this to try to restore Joe Paterno’s good name. This line from the family’s release today pretty much proves that:

To those who are convinced that the Freeh report is the last word on this matter, that is absolutely not the case. Since various investigations and legal cases are still pending, it is highly likely that additional critical information will emerge. With that said, we want to take this opportunity to reiterate that Joe Paterno did not shield Jerry Sandusky from any investigation or review.

Again, this is Paterno’s family. Of couse they’re going to come to his defense. But to couch it in these statements about how this is really all for the victims and not for Joe Paterno cant help but come off as gross. Oh, and as for the part about “identify[ing] additional information that should be analyzed”? Here’s a tweet sent out earlier today by Sara Ganim, the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Patriot-News reporter who was more on top of the Sandusky story than anyone else:

Men from the 70s and 80s say they were abused by #Sandusky. In one case, Sandusky would have been in his late 20s.

— Sara Ganim (@sganim) July 16, 2012

There’s some information to analyze.

AP photo, by Carolyn Kaster, via