NCAA Football

Penn State Adds Names To Uniforms, Could Probably Still Do More To Distance Themselves From Paterno Era

Time for a makeover in Happy Valley! Because they will probably never be able to do enough to fully disassociate themselves with the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Penn State is giving their football jerseys a face lift.

The cosmetic changes to the Penn State jerseys are tw0-fold. The first is a somewhat expected, very commendable addition of a blue ribbon in honor of all child abuse victims. The second is a possibly controversial, definitely landmark change to the backs of their jerseys, which will now include players’ last names.

The decision to include surnames on the jerseys was not a hasty one, with head coach Bill O’Brien saying that the names will help fans recognize the men who banded together through arduous times and are to be individually commended for their leadership. The players acknowledged that the names represent teammates holding each other individually accountable to uphold Penn State football tradition.

I think we can agree this is a step in the right direction. No doubt there will be a faction of uproarious Penn State traditionalists ready to fight to the death to keep those names off the jerseys, because if there’s anyone who knows how to be uproarious, it’s Penn State fans. But this isn’t anything to lose it over. I think we’ll all be OK.

[Yahoo! Sports, photo via Getty]