First the statue, now the harsh reality of the sanctions handed down by the NCAA. To say they have left the Penn State football program reeling would be a huge understatement.

‘View from outside Beaver Stadium, where Joe Paterno’s statue once stood’ (via Deadspin.com)

The NCAA has wrapped their head around the unique circumstances surrounding the Penn State football program and fined the university $60 million for their part in the Jerry Sandusky “cover-up.” Mark Emmert, president of the NCAA stated in a news conference on Monday morning,

“In the Penn State case, the results were perverse and unconscionable, No price the NCAA can levy will repair the damage inflicted by Jerry Sandusky on his victims”

Penn State did not argue the sanctions and accepted them without question. They have been ordered by the NCAA to pay the fine to programs outside of the university that help prevent sexual abuse or assist victims of abuse.

While no child should ever have to endure life altering abuse, will the rest of the NCAA sanctions actually help anyone heal? The Nittany Lions must vacate all wins from 1998 through 2011, a total of 112 wins. Those wins were not a result of any illegal activity of those players on the field, the lower level coaches, and anyone else involved in the football program, especially their new head coach. Will rewriting the sports history books help the abuse victims that the leaders of Penn State allegedly turned their backs on?

The rest of the NCAA sanctions includes reducing the amount of scholarships for four years, a four-year postseason bowl ban, and five years probation. The NCAA did rule that all current players can transfer immediately as an eligible player to other schools without penalty. Thankfully, those young men that had nothing to do with what happened to the victims will not be penalized for the failures of a few, but where does that leave the team and their new head coach, former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Bill O’Brian?

Bill O’Brian has decided to stick with Penn State, and according to his statement this morning, he knew he was facing tough times ahead, but did he really know how tough those times would be? According to Jesse Palmer, ESPN College Football Analyst, the penalties handed down by the NCAA are crippling to the Nittany Lions. A four-year reduction in scholarships and a four-year postseason ban could devastate the football program for the next eight years. Bill O’Brian must immediately speak to his players and resell the Penn State football program. He knows that each player, given the right opportunity, could walk from his locker room and into another without blinking an eye. To know his players had nothing to do with the scandal, yet to be punished in such a fashion will be difficult for O’Brian to overcome.

Not only does O’Brian have to worry about his current players, he has to sell his program to new recruits. Potentially, he has to suggest to new recruits that if they want an opportunity to play in any postseason game, they must “redshirt.” O’Brian knows players want to be recruited by teams that have the ability to play in postseason bowl games and be able to compete for National Championships. He must use his remaining scholarships wisely. He must choose recruits that are without controversy; he does not need to give scholarships to individuals that could be banned for criminal activity or dropped from the program because of academic eligibility.

Once the team gets beyond the four-year scholarship ban and the four-year bowl ban, the potential for postseason play could still be out of the Nittany Lions reach. Can Bill O’Brian successfully coach a team that in six years will consist of mostly walkons? Probably not, but in the meantime, Coach O’Brian must focus on getting his team through the next four years. He is going to have to step carefully through the coming seasons to keep the Nittany Lions competitive and keep the Penn State faithful involved in the program. Penn State alumni must prepare themselves and accept that Joe Paterno’s legacy is no more, and bowl games will be a thing of the past, at least for the next eight years.

Workers remove the statue of former football coach Joe Paterno outside Beaver Stadium on Penn State’s campus in State College, PA. (Christopher Weddle, Centre Daily Times via AP)

The iconic statue of Joe Paterno was removed from outside Penn State University’s football stadium on Sunday, removing what had become, for fans of the late head coach, a symbol of his central role on campus and, for critics, a constant reminder of the worst crisis in the university’s history.

The statue was promptly removed and wrapped in shrink wrap before being covered by a blue tarp. The structure was transported by forklift inside Beaver Stadium, the home of Penn State football since 1960.

University President Rodney Erickson released a statement early Sunday, explaining his decision to remove the statue of Penn State’s beloved Hall of Fame football coach.

“(The statue) became a source of division and an obstacle to healing in our university. For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location, I believe that were it to remain, the statue will be a recurring wound to the multitude of individuals across the nation and beyond who have been the victims of child abuse.”

University officials have not yet identified where the statue would be permanently held after its removal.

Erickson’s decision came the same day that the NCAA announced it would unveil “corrective and punitive” measures against the university on Monday. Though association officials declined to elaborate Sunday, ESPN quoted an anonymous source saying the sanctions included a significant loss of scholarships and ability to participate in several bowl games.

Paterno’s 7-foot-tall, 900-pound statue had become a flash point in recent days, after the findings of an internal university investigation suggested that Paterno and several top administrators conspired for more than a decade to cover up allegations against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

According to the report by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, Paterno helped shape the university’s reaction to at least two abuse allegations – the first in 1998 and another in 2001. In the latter, university officials opted not to notify outside authorities for fear of bad publicity, Freeh said.

Paterno’s family has strongly criticized Freeh’s conclusions and vowed to launch their own investigation. They have openly and publicly criticized the decision to remove the statue.

Paterno, who led the university to two national championships during his 60-year coaching career, earned a reputation for putting integrity and academics ahead of athletic accomplishments. He was also a generous donor, giving more than $9 million to the university over the course of his life.

Several buildings on campus, including the library and a Catholic student center, are named after him or his wife, Sue. Those will remain, Erickson said.

Former Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley was one of a number of top officials who “failed to protect against a child sexual predator harming children for over a decade,” the Freeh Report concluded. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

With the Freeh Report on Penn State’s actions in response to Jerry Sandusky’s sexual abuse of children making news on Thursday morning, calls have been revived for Penn State’s football program to receive the “death penalty,” the strictest penalty that the NCAA can impose. The last Division I program to receive the “death penalty” was Southern Methodist University’s football team, which did not play in 1987 or 1988 after the university was found to have been making payments to players.

On Thursday morning, the Wikipedia page for the NCAA death penalty had been edited to include a 10-year ban for the program, a penalty that has been called for on many occasions since Sandusky’s crimes began to come to light. The question, however, is whether the death penalty is the right response.

The argument is familiar by now. Supporters of the Penn State program point out that the only people harmed by a “death penalty” are people who had nothing to do with Sandusky’s crimes, ranging from the new coaching staff led by Bill O’Brien to the student-athletes to the rank-and-file members of the community who derive part or all of their income from Penn State football (vendors, facility workers, etc.). The response from the other side is that the plight of the children abused by Sandusky should take priority over the players and coaches (individual community members who suffer financial repercussions rarely seem to enter into the equation). There’s also the argument that an example needs to be made of Penn State, as a deterrent to other universities who put the success of their football teams and other athletic programs first, ahead of moral concerns, academics and the student body at large.

In reality, though, the truth is that the “death penalty” is not just the right thing to do in terms of a deterrent to other programs. It’s the right thing to do for Penn State.

When Penn State faced Houston in the TicketCity bowl in January, the game drew protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church. While the WBC is as detestable an organization as one will ever find on this planet, they won’t be the only ones protesting when Penn State takes the field this season. If allowed to play, the Nittany Lions will do so under the damning shadow of the Freeh Report, whether it’s protesters inside or outside the stadium or simply the media scrutiny that will accompany any season. The best thing for Penn State as an institution is to make a fresh start, beyond what they’ve already done by replacing the coaching staff and the university officials in the Sandusky scandal, like former president Graham Spanier and former athletic director Tim Curley. The “death penalty” would enable that to happen.

Of course, some of the concerns about the effects of a death penalty are valid, and should be addressed. O’Brien and the other coaches who gave up other jobs to come to Penn State and find themselves without work would need to be compensated until they can find new employment. The players, who are without fault (unlike the SMU players in the ’80s), would need to be allowed to transfer without the loss of eligibility. And ordinary individuals whose livelihoods are derived from Penn State football should be compensated in some way for their lost income. If they’re university employees, they should be retained at their regular rate of compensation and given whatever work is appropriate. If they’re not, other remedies should be found, perhaps from the football boosters who helped support the Penn State program while Sandusky was committing his atrocities.

Many of those arguing against the “death penalty” for Penn State have their hearts in the right place. It’s not easy to argue for the punishment of those who did no wrong. However, if those punishments can be addressed, then the NCAA “death penalty” is the right decision, not only for the benefit of the victims and for our educational institutions as a whole, but for Penn State itself.