(Image Source: Wikimedia commons )

 

BY JON REHAGEN

ANCHOR JIM FLINK


There’s a furor gaining momentum in the wake of the Penn State football sex scandal.
Many -- calling for the death penalty for the football program.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is one of the voices leading that chorus.

“...[University] should not be allowed to play a football game. Some people are saying 1 year, 2 years, I don’t they should be allowed to play another football game for the next 5. It should be the death penalty, it should be immediately imposed...”

The “death penalty” would mean no football games for the duration of punishment. It could also include revoking scholarships and recruiting bans. SI senior writer Phil Taylor tells CNN he doubts the death penalty will be handed down.

“... that would be up to the NCAA, I doubt that’s going to happen just because that would affect not just the Penn State program and the surrounding businesses in the area, but also other schools that are scheduled to play Penn State.”
 

Those opposed to the death penalty say, those who should be punished either have been or likely will be. Current players, they say, played no role, so should why should they suffer? On CNN, political analyst James Carville says the players shouldn’t have to pay, but the University should.

“That is a really dumb idea. Lives have been ruined, so the answer to it, let’s go out and ruin more lives? … Let Penn State football play, let them make money, bring the trial lawyers in, pluck that chicken clean.”

Others opposed say, Penn State doesn’t deserve football related penalties for one person’s criminal violation.   A writer for Bleacher Report suggests the death penalty would do nothing except satisfy public outcry.

“Punishing the current players, coaches and staff accomplishes nothing productive. It may satisfy people's "blood thirst" for a while, but no lessons will be learned if PSU's football program is shut down for a couple years. This is an issue for the courts, not the NCAA.”

But in light of the Freeh report, exposing greater institutional knowledge than previously admitted by Penn State offcials, the chorus for greater punishment isn’t waning. A CBS Sports blogger thinks the death penalty would signify an end and a change at Penn State, and a point to start the rebuilding.

“'We are Penn State' during the fall. No longer will those four words ever mean the same thing again. People like stories with a happy ending but for the Nittany Lions, the football program can't have one unless they close the book for good and start writing a new one.”

The NCAA isn’t expected to determine the future of Penn State football until after all court and legal proceedings have run the course of justice.