Joe Paterno stripped of 111 victories; no longer winningest coach

[mulva]

The biggest number in the NCAA’s heavy punishment of Penn State’s football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal is the $60 million fine.

But for the players who suited up for the Nittany Lions from 1998 to 2012 and their coaches, the vacating of 112 wins — 111 under iconic coach Joe Paterno — is far more severe.

Over that 15-year span, the Nittany Lions played in 10 bowl games, winning six. Each of those wins are now wiped from the record books along with two Big 10 conference titles. Suddenly, players who won trophies and championship rings for their storied program will see their time in State College tagged with an asterisk and a record devoid of wins.

And one day after his statue was removed from its place outside Beaver Stadium, Paterno is no longer the winningest coach in Division 1 football history. Paterno dropped from 409 to 298 wins. He is now just the 12th-winningest coach in college football history, and is replaced atop the Division 1 ladder by former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson (408 wins). Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is second with 377 wins. Current St. John’s (Minn.) coach John Gagliardi is the winningest college football coach across all classifications with 484 wins and counting.

The NCAA also announced Monday that is has revoked Paterno’s 2011 Gerald R. Ford leadership award, as reported by MLive.com. The honor is given to individuals who have “provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis during the course of their career.”

At a news conference to announce the penalties, NCAA president Mark Emmert explained that the period of vacated wins was selected to coincide with the findings of the extensive and damning Freeh report. Emmert did not comment on the impact the vacated wins might have on Paterno’s legacy.

“That was the point of time from which one can make an argument that the failures began inside the institution,” Emmert said of the 1998 season. “I’ll leave what it says about individuals for others to speculate on.”

For the hundreds of players who compiled those wins for the Nittany Lions, digesting the magnitude of the scandal that continues to rock their university remains a challenging ordeal. Washington Redskins running back Evan Royster (2006-’10) was one of several players struggling to assess what the NCAA penalties mean for his career at Penn State.

[cmoney]

The biggest number in the NCAA’s heavy punishment of Penn State’s football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal is the $60 million fine.

But for the players who suited up for the Nittany Lions from 1998 to 2012 and their coaches, the vacating of 112 wins — 111 under iconic coach Joe Paterno — is far more severe.

Over that 15-year span, the Nittany Lions played in 10 bowl games, winning six. Each of those wins are now wiped from the record books along with two Big 10 conference titles. Suddenly, players who won trophies and championship rings for their storied program will see their time in State College tagged with an asterisk and a record devoid of wins.

And one day after his statue was removed from its place outside Beaver Stadium, Paterno is no longer the winningest coach in Division 1 football history. Paterno dropped from 409 to 298 wins. He is now just the 12th-winningest coach in college football history, and is replaced atop the Division 1 ladder by former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson (408 wins). Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is second with 377 wins. Current St. John’s (Minn.) coach John Gagliardi is the winningest college football coach across all classifications with 484 wins and counting.

The NCAA also announced Monday that is has revoked Paterno’s 2011 Gerald R. Ford leadership award, as reported by MLive.com. The honor is given to individuals who have “provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis during the course of their career.”

At a news conference to announce the penalties, NCAA president Mark Emmert explained that the period of vacated wins was selected to coincide with the findings of the extensive and damning Freeh report. Emmert did not comment on the impact the vacated wins might have on Paterno’s legacy.

“That was the point of time from which one can make an argument that the failures began inside the institution,” Emmert said of the 1998 season. “I’ll leave what it says about individuals for others to speculate on.”

For the hundreds of players who compiled those wins for the Nittany Lions, digesting the magnitude of the scandal that continues to rock their university remains a challenging ordeal. Washington Redskins running back Evan Royster (2006-’10) was one of several players struggling to assess what the NCAA penalties mean for his career at Penn State.

This is such horse shit. How does re writing history solve anything? This mostly just fucks the stats of the players that had nothing to do with the scandal.

I never understood why they make statues of people who are still alive. You never know what dumb shit they will do.

[LLL]

The biggest number in the NCAA’s heavy punishment of Penn State’s football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal is the $60 million fine.

But for the players who suited up for the Nittany Lions from 1998 to 2012 and their coaches, the vacating of 112 wins — 111 under iconic coach Joe Paterno — is far more severe.

Over that 15-year span, the Nittany Lions played in 10 bowl games, winning six. Each of those wins are now wiped from the record books along with two Big 10 conference titles. Suddenly, players who won trophies and championship rings for their storied program will see their time in State College tagged with an asterisk and a record devoid of wins.

And one day after his statue was removed from its place outside Beaver Stadium, Paterno is no longer the winningest coach in Division 1 football history. Paterno dropped from 409 to 298 wins. He is now just the 12th-winningest coach in college football history, and is replaced atop the Division 1 ladder by former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson (408 wins). Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is second with 377 wins. Current St. John’s (Minn.) coach John Gagliardi is the winningest college football coach across all classifications with 484 wins and counting.

The NCAA also announced Monday that is has revoked Paterno’s 2011 Gerald R. Ford leadership award, as reported by MLive.com. The honor is given to individuals who have “provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis during the course of their career.”

At a news conference to announce the penalties, NCAA president Mark Emmert explained that the period of vacated wins was selected to coincide with the findings of the extensive and damning Freeh report. Emmert did not comment on the impact the vacated wins might have on Paterno’s legacy.

“That was the point of time from which one can make an argument that the failures began inside the institution,” Emmert said of the 1998 season. “I’ll leave what it says about individuals for others to speculate on.”

For the hundreds of players who compiled those wins for the Nittany Lions, digesting the magnitude of the scandal that continues to rock their university remains a challenging ordeal. Washington Redskins running back Evan Royster (2006-’10) was one of several players struggling to assess what the NCAA penalties mean for his career at Penn State.

This is such horse shit. How does re writing history solve anything? This mostly just fucks the stats of the players that had nothing to do with the scandal.

I never understood why they make statues of people who are still alive. You never know what dumb shit they will do.

Penalizing the current group of kids in the program stinks but stripping those wins from Paterno is a good decision. Generations from now he'll be known not as the college coach with the most wins but as the guy who turned his head to rampant abuse.

[El Gallo]

The wins should not count. If he had been caught for covering up the rape of children in 1998 then none of those wins would have happened. Therefore, you have to wipe away all the wins. Good move... It sucks for the students and players, but hey.... When your CEO dickhead boss goes to jail for stealing money from the company and the company can't pay back debts, company goes under and you lose your job.... Life lesson.

[chinamaniac]

The wins should not count. If he had been caught for covering up the rape of children in 1998 then none of those wins would have happened. Therefore, you have to wipe away all the wins. Good move... It sucks for the students and players, but hey.... When your CEO dickhead boss goes to jail for stealing money from the company and the company can't pay back debts, company goes under and you lose your job.... Life lesson.

This isn't tough for me anymore, sure if he never covered it up he never would have got those wins but he did and he EARNED the wins as a coach.

If it is found Brett Favre murdered 9 woman 5 years from now would they take him out of the record books? NO. Oj Simpson murdered people and is in the HOF still

At first when I thought about this I thought it was the right decision by the NCAA. But here is where I stand now after hearing all of these "experts" on college football weigh in. Musberger made some good points today on Mike and Mike

1. The wins- These should have never been taken away. Paterno earned them. I am glad they were taken away cause BOWDEN IS GOD but still it was the wrong move. If he had academically inelgible players or players cheating then fine take them away because that's how the NCAA operates.

Here is something that is just my opinion on how all that crap works. Reggie Bush should have never given his Heisman back. The guy won it whether he was paid or not. He was the best player in the country. LOL @ them "taking" away one of USC titles from that era. I watched those games and watched them win the game.


2. The fine. The fine should have been $300 million not $60 million. They make about 300 million per year. Fuck it they should have fined them 500 million

3. They shouldn't have been penalized scholarship players.

4. Players are allowed to transfer and even with 0 penalties they should have been allowed to transfer.

5. Bowl eligibility and conference titles should not have been taken away. The coaches and kids today have nothing to do with this shit


Sandusky is in Prison and will die there. His family will pay a price for many years to come.

The Paternos will suffer as well.

All the Ads and guys who covered this upo will probably do jail time and will have a hard time finding work again. Them and their families will suffer as well.

The victims will get paid. Not that it cures them of having their lifes ruined but they will at least get compensated heavily.



In the end this NCAA president made the wrong decision IMO. The only argument I can see for it being the right decision is to make them an example if shit like this is to happen again. But again the current players at state now have to scramble if they want to transfer and they are fucking up the lives of the football players.

[LLL]

The wins should not count. If he had been caught for covering up the rape of children in 1998 then none of those wins would have happened. Therefore, you have to wipe away all the wins. Good move... It sucks for the students and players, but hey.... When your CEO dickhead boss goes to jail for stealing money from the company and the company can't pay back debts, company goes under and you lose your job.... Life lesson.

This isn't tough for me anymore, sure if he never covered it up he never would have got those wins but he did and he EARNED the wins as a coach.

If it is found Brett Favre murdered 9 woman 5 years from now would they take him out of the record books? NO. Oj Simpson murdered people and is in the HOF still

At first when I thought about this I thought it was the right decision by the NCAA. But here is where I stand now after hearing all of these "experts" on college football weigh in. Musberger made some good points today on Mike and Mike

1. The wins- These should have never been taken away. Paterno earned them. I am glad they were taken away cause BOWDEN IS GOD but still it was the wrong move. If he had academically inelgible players or players cheating then fine take them away because that's how the NCAA operates.

Here is something that is just my opinion on how all that crap works. Reggie Bush should have never given his Heisman back. The guy won it whether he was paid or not. He was the best player in the country. LOL @ them "taking" away one of USC titles from that era. I watched those games and watched them win the game.


2. The fine. The fine should have been $300 million not $60 million. They make about 300 million per year. Fuck it they should have fined them 500 million

3. They shouldn't have been penalized scholarship players.

4. Players are allowed to transfer and even with 0 penalties they should have been allowed to transfer.

5. Bowl eligibility and conference titles should not have been taken away. The coaches and kids today have nothing to do with this shit


Sandusky is in Prison and will die there. His family will pay a price for many years to come.

The Paternos will suffer as well.

All the Ads and guys who covered this upo will probably do jail time and will have a hard time finding work again. Them and their families will suffer as well.

The victims will get paid. Not that it cures them of having their lifes ruined but they will at least get compensated heavily.



In the end this NCAA president made the wrong decision IMO. The only argument I can see for it being the right decision is to make them an example if shit like this is to happen again. But again the current players at state now have to scramble if they want to transfer and they are fucking up the lives of the football players.

OJ murdered long after his playing days. Not the same argument.

[cmoney]

The wins should not count. If he had been caught for covering up the rape of children in 1998 then none of those wins would have happened. Therefore, you have to wipe away all the wins. Good move... It sucks for the students and players, but hey.... When your CEO dickhead boss goes to jail for stealing money from the company and the company can't pay back debts, company goes under and you lose your job.... Life lesson.

Per your logic then, Vegas should refund all lost and won wagers on these games since they didn't happen.

Since when has there been a correlation between someone's morality and if they are good at something? He was a great coach who won games, He won them fairly; he didnt cheat. That is all that matters. You either win the game or lose the game.

When you re write history in this way you are lying about what actually occurred.

[LLL]

The wins should not count. If he had been caught for covering up the rape of children in 1998 then none of those wins would have happened. Therefore, you have to wipe away all the wins. Good move... It sucks for the students and players, but hey.... When your CEO dickhead boss goes to jail for stealing money from the company and the company can't pay back debts, company goes under and you lose your job.... Life lesson.

Per your logic then, Vegas should refund all lost and won wagers on these games since they didn't happen.

Since when has there been a correlation between someone's morality and if they are good at something? He was a great coach who won games, He won them fairly; he didnt cheat. That is all that matters. You either win the game or lose the game.

When you re write history in this way you are lying about what actually occurred.

At the end of the day it is a meaningless game and Paterno is dead and not able to care about his legacy. This is what I will always remember him for anyway:

[chinamaniac]

This isn't tough for me anymore, sure if he never covered it up he never would have got those wins but he did and he EARNED the wins as a coach.

If it is found Brett Favre murdered 9 woman 5 years from now would they take him out of the record books? NO. Oj Simpson murdered people and is in the HOF still

At first when I thought about this I thought it was the right decision by the NCAA. But here is where I stand now after hearing all of these "experts" on college football weigh in. Musberger made some good points today on Mike and Mike

1. The wins- These should have never been taken away. Paterno earned them. I am glad they were taken away cause BOWDEN IS GOD but still it was the wrong move. If he had academically inelgible players or players cheating then fine take them away because that's how the NCAA operates.

Here is something that is just my opinion on how all that crap works. Reggie Bush should have never given his Heisman back. The guy won it whether he was paid or not. He was the best player in the country. LOL @ them "taking" away one of USC titles from that era. I watched those games and watched them win the game.


2. The fine. The fine should have been $300 million not $60 million. They make about 300 million per year. Fuck it they should have fined them 500 million

3. They shouldn't have been penalized scholarship players.

4. Players are allowed to transfer and even with 0 penalties they should have been allowed to transfer.

5. Bowl eligibility and conference titles should not have been taken away. The coaches and kids today have nothing to do with this shit


Sandusky is in Prison and will die there. His family will pay a price for many years to come.

The Paternos will suffer as well.

All the Ads and guys who covered this upo will probably do jail time and will have a hard time finding work again. Them and their families will suffer as well.

The victims will get paid. Not that it cures them of having their lifes ruined but they will at least get compensated heavily.



In the end this NCAA president made the wrong decision IMO. The only argument I can see for it being the right decision is to make them an example if shit like this is to happen again. But again the current players at state now have to scramble if they want to transfer and they are fucking up the lives of the football players.

OJ murdered long after his playing days. Not the same argument.

Lawrence Taylor did cocaine on game days so should they take away his HOF status?

Should football players who are known to have taken steroids have their team championships taken away as well?

[LLL]

OJ murdered long after his playing days. Not the same argument.

Lawrence Taylor did cocaine on game days so should they take away his HOF status?

Should football players who are known to have taken steroids have their team championships taken away as well?

Comparing cocaine use to turning your head to the abuse of children is the best that you can do?

[peter mcneil]

The biggest number in the NCAA’s heavy punishment of Penn State’s football program in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal is the $60 million fine.

But for the players who suited up for the Nittany Lions from 1998 to 2012 and their coaches, the vacating of 112 wins — 111 under iconic coach Joe Paterno — is far more severe.

Over that 15-year span, the Nittany Lions played in 10 bowl games, winning six. Each of those wins are now wiped from the record books along with two Big 10 conference titles. Suddenly, players who won trophies and championship rings for their storied program will see their time in State College tagged with an asterisk and a record devoid of wins.

And one day after his statue was removed from its place outside Beaver Stadium, Paterno is no longer the winningest coach in Division 1 football history. Paterno dropped from 409 to 298 wins. He is now just the 12th-winningest coach in college football history, and is replaced atop the Division 1 ladder by former Grambling coach Eddie Robinson (408 wins). Florida State coach Bobby Bowden is second with 377 wins. Current St. John’s (Minn.) coach John Gagliardi is the winningest college football coach across all classifications with 484 wins and counting.

The NCAA also announced Monday that is has revoked Paterno’s 2011 Gerald R. Ford leadership award, as reported by MLive.com. The honor is given to individuals who have “provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis during the course of their career.”

At a news conference to announce the penalties, NCAA president Mark Emmert explained that the period of vacated wins was selected to coincide with the findings of the extensive and damning Freeh report. Emmert did not comment on the impact the vacated wins might have on Paterno’s legacy.

“That was the point of time from which one can make an argument that the failures began inside the institution,” Emmert said of the 1998 season. “I’ll leave what it says about individuals for others to speculate on.”

For the hundreds of players who compiled those wins for the Nittany Lions, digesting the magnitude of the scandal that continues to rock their university remains a challenging ordeal. Washington Redskins running back Evan Royster (2006-’10) was one of several players struggling to assess what the NCAA penalties mean for his career at Penn State.

This is such horse shit. How does re writing history solve anything? This mostly just fucks the stats of the players that had nothing to do with the scandal.

I never understood why they make statues of people who are still alive. You never know what dumb shit they will do.

Is this being done as well? Are all the wins and player stats since 1998 removed as well or are they just not crediting those wins to Joe Paterno. The coach who Joe Pa passed for the all time record also had 12 wins taken off his total for academic and ineligible player violations, seems like the rightful record holder now has the record. Personally I'm glad they've taken his name off the record books, he was 100% complicit to the rape and molestation of those children and does not deserve the priviledge of having those wins and the record to his name.

[Steve-O]

This type of penalty is silly. You can't act like those games never existed. It's the same with UMASS losing it's final four run because Marcus Camby wore a gold necklace (more to it than that but you get the point). Penn State won those games, Joe Paterno is the winningest coach end of story. Just because he was also a scumbag doesn't mean you hand his accomplishments to others in some bizarre post-mortem writing of history.

[chinamaniac]

Lawrence Taylor did cocaine on game days so should they take away his HOF status?

Should football players who are known to have taken steroids have their team championships taken away as well?

Comparing cocaine use to turning your head to the abuse of children is the best that you can do?

I'm not comparing it. I am just asking if guys who cheat drug wise should face personal and team penalties.

The guy who raped the kids is in jail. The rest who covered it up will follow.

Leave the football program alone but fine the university up the ass IMO

[LLL]

Comparing cocaine use to turning your head to the abuse of children is the best that you can do?

I'm not comparing it. I am just asking if guys who cheat drug wise should face personal and team penalties.

The guy who raped the kids is in jail. The rest who covered it up will follow.

Leave the football program alone but fine the university up the ass IMO

It's not a fair debate IMO. Apples and oranges.

[peter mcneil]

This type of penalty is silly. You can't act like those games never existed. It's the same with UMASS losing it's final four run because Marcus Camby wore a gold necklace (more to it than that but you get the point). Penn State won those games, Joe Paterno is the winningest coach end of story. Just because he was also a scumbag doesn't mean you hand his accomplishments to others in some bizarre post-mortem writing of history.

Thats not really true, the guy who was in second to Joe Pa (Bowden) has more wins, he was also stripped of 12 total wins to his total due to academic and ineligability violations. I am confused on the issue, are these wins by the penn state team, the stats amounted by players etc also being removed from history or is it just simply Joe Pa losing credit as the winning coach?

[chinamaniac]

I'm not comparing it. I am just asking if guys who cheat drug wise should face personal and team penalties.

The guy who raped the kids is in jail. The rest who covered it up will follow.

Leave the football program alone but fine the university up the ass IMO

It's not a fair debate IMO. Apples and oranges.

As far as the kids being raped that didn't affect wins and losses but the NCAA can do whatever they want and they did because they want to set an example. Tearing down the statue needed to be done too.



I just feel in Sports they need to set some sort of guideline on cheating and how it affects wins etc. Every steroid guy who dominated the steroid era should be in the hof. There was no rule against it and no testing. Guys who tested positive should face penalties hof wise like Palmeiro. Bonds etc IN!

[peter mcneil]

I think some common sense can be applied on a case by case basis. The scum of the earth, the lowest of the low, murderers, rapists and people complicit to the rape and molestation of dozens, hundreds if not thousands of kids over a nearly 15 year period should not have the priviledge or honor of these records and stats IMO. Steroid users in team sports should not impact the rest of the team, but steroid users in individual sports are already stripped of their accomplishments, I dont really think that subject is a good analogy to this topic. I also don't think the TEAM itself and the players are being stripped of their accomplishments although I'm not certain of this, that would be retarded and make absolutely no sense at all.

[Steve-O]

I think some common sense can be applied on a case by case basis. The scum of the earth, the lowest of the low, murderers, rapists and people complicit to the rape and molestation of dozens, hundreds if not thousands of kids over a nearly 15 year period should not have the priveledge or honor of these records and stats IMO. Steroid users in team sports should not impact the rest of the team, but steroid users in individual sports are already stripped of their accomplishments, I dont really think that subject is a good analogy to this topic. I also don't think the TEAM itself and the players are being stripped of their accomplishments although I'm not certain of this, that would be retarded and make absolutely no sense at all.

I agree with your stance on drug-users. If they are caught after the fact in a team sport the result has to stand (you simply suspend the player after the fact). The same applies with academic violations (fine the coach in these cases), dishing out arbitrary "legacy" punishments after the fact is an insult to everyone's intelligence --just like taking down a plaque in a Hall of Fame is the typical SOP because god forbid they add something negative to a persaon's HOF bio and make it look like anyone but pure saints ever excelled at sports.

The NCAA did this so they don't have to deal with the legacy of Penn State, so instead of admitting there was an excellent football program that covered up a disgusting child molester's crimes, they simply amend their record-books to make it look like the person never exisited --it's like the family guy episode where the German tour guide says "Nothing happend between 1936 and 1945. NOTHING!!!!"

[jsearles22]

It's not a fair debate IMO. Apples and oranges.

As far as the kids being raped that didn't affect wins and losses but the NCAA can do whatever they want and they did because they want to set an example. Tearing down the statue needed to be done too.



I just feel in Sports they need to set some sort of guideline on cheating and how it affects wins etc. Every steroid guy who dominated the steroid era should be in the hof. There was no rule against it and no testing. Guys who tested positive should face penalties hof wise like Palmeiro. Bonds etc IN!

China just hammered the nail on the head. You should only strip wins/statistics if the cheating gave you a competitive advantage. Jerry Sandusky sodomizing young boys did not help Penn State win a single game. Bowden was stripped of wins for allowing ineligible players to play. Thats a competitive advantage. Many other universities have been stripped of wins but it is nearly unanimously done when the school somehow gained an advantage. Can anyone name one other situation of vacating stats when the cheating or crime didnt involve gaining an edge?

[peter mcneil]

As far as the kids being raped that didn't affect wins and losses but the NCAA can do whatever they want and they did because they want to set an example. Tearing down the statue needed to be done too.



I just feel in Sports they need to set some sort of guideline on cheating and how it affects wins etc. Every steroid guy who dominated the steroid era should be in the hof. There was no rule against it and no testing. Guys who tested positive should face penalties hof wise like Palmeiro. Bonds etc IN!

China just hammered the nail on the head. You should only strip wins/statistics if the cheating gave you a competitive advantage. Jerry Sandusky sodomizing young boys did not help Penn State win a single game. Bowden was stripped of wins for allowing ineligible players to play. Thats a competitive advantage. Many other universities have been stripped of wins but it is nearly unanimously done when the school somehow gained an advantage. Can anyone name one other situation of vacating stats when the cheating or crime didnt involve gaining an edge?

obviously he got those wins without any advantage, my point and not everyone will agree is that to have the honor and privilege of your name going down in the all time records books in sport and society you just need to abide by some pretty simple rules, one of those IMO is don't stand by and allow children to be raped. Yes he won all those games but IMO he does not deserve as a human being to be recognized for it, fuck him and I'm glad it happened.