Why the NCAA Shouldn't Punish Penn State

Andy Staples at SI just posted an article that nails it.  Read it now.

Staples spends most of the article running through the only needed justification why Penn State shouldn't get any NCAA punishment: because there's no NCAA bylaws against anything anyone at Penn State did. Do you think the NCAA should get in the business of making up what it sanctions on the fly?

As Staples points out, worrying that no NCAA punishment lets Penn State off the hook is completely misguided.  "Besides, Penn State may have bigger problems. While this case doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the NCAA, it does fall under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Education. A Department of Education investigation that results in a termination of Penn State's accreditation would essentially amount to the Death Penalty for the entire university. Given the fact that such a punishment would put thousands of people out of work, Penn State might fall into the "too big to fail" category. Still, the possibility must fray the nerves of the thousands in State College who had nothing to do with this atrocity."

Far, far worse penalties are coming for all individuals involved and the institution as a whole. Penn State is not going to lose its accreditation, but ED is going to hit us with restrictions and sanctions with no precedent in American history.

The one set of punishments which Staples doesn't address but is very real are financial. In no way do I believe that any financial penalty can offset the harm Sandusky committed and Penn State ignored, but we often use financial penalties to penalize horrific deeds, because they serve as a deterrent to future offenders. By the time this ordeal is over, Penn State is going to have to write a nine-figure check, and the first digit might not be a one. ED is going to fine us at least 50 million dollars. I would say at least that much money and probably closer to 100 million will be needed to compensate Sandusky's victims. Then there's legal fees. By the end of this, it's very conceivable that we have to pay a total of 200 million dollars. That's more than 10 percent of our endowment. And that is a far, far greater penalty than losing the football team for a year or two.