Heavy Sanctions Imposed on Penn State by the NCAA in Response to the Jerry Sandusky Scandal

The long awaited hammer of the NCAA has finally fallen on Penn State in response to the Jerry Sandusky Scandal.

The heavy list of penalties is below, but folks are having trouble accepting one of the consequences on the list.

Penn State’s football team has been ordered to forfeit all wins between 1998 and 2011 and is banned from all bowl games for the next four years.

Many are wondering if the vacated wins aren’t a bit much, wondering if punishing the players who had no role in the incident at all is fair, but, on the other hand, some are saying that the NCAA must make a precedent of this situation to show how serious cases like this should be taken.

Narrowly escaping the ‘Death Penalty’, Penn State still was not let off easy by any measure.

-To start, Penn State will be on a 5 year probationary period.

-Since all wins between 1998 and 2011 have to be forfeited, Joe Paterno’s record as the All-Time Wins Leader in Division 1 will no longer stand. (Ironically, neither will his famous statue on Penn State grounds. Joe Paterno’s statue was removed the day before NCAA released its sanctions on Penn State for the Jerry Sandusky scandal.)

-In addition, scholarships will be capped 20 short of the normal limit for the next four years.

-The University itself will be fined $60 million, an amount the NCAA says the football program normally earns in one year. The fine will go towards benefitting charities that help sexual abuse victims.

On the Big Ten’s end, they announced that Penn State will not be allowed to share in their conference’s bowl revenue earnings, cutting Penn State back financially even further.

Future players will now be looking to Penn State’s new Head Coach, Bill O’Brien, to rebuild teams under strict limitations. He was quoted on foxnews.com saying, "I knew when I accepted the position that there would be tough times ahead, but I am committed for the long term to Penn State and our student athletes."

To wrap up, a statement released in an article on foxnews.com, quotes NCAA President Mark Emmert saying that, “Football will never again be placed ahead of educating, nurturing, and protecting young people… The sanctions needed to reflect our goals of providing cultural change.”