Penn State Sports Magazine
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/109500
FOOTBALL Paterno family responds ���Rush to injustice��� decried in rebuttal to Freeh report REPORT CARD Jay Paterno appeared on a variety of ESPN TV and radio shows Feb. 11. Jay Faraoni/ESPN | S ue Paterno notified the lettermen first. Using her own letterhead, she forwarded a note to each of Joe Paterno���s former players. The message? The Paterno family has had enough. It is going on the offensive. Beginning with the release of the ���Critique of the Freeh Report: The Rush To Injustice Regarding Joe Paterno��� on the morning of Feb. 10, the Paterno family, led by the King & Spalding law firm, is out to refute the report commissioned by former FBI Director Louis Freeh that claims Joe Paterno ���repeatedly concealed critical facts��� relating to sexual abuse allegations against Jerry Sandusky. And while they���re at it, they���re hoping to restore a legacy that was marred by the scandal and Paterno���s perceived role as an enabler. But it���s unclear whether the most recent report ��� along with a public relations cavalcade led by Sue and Jay Paterno on ABC and ESPN on Feb. 11 ��� is changing public perception in favor of the Paternos or simply bringing the scandal back to the forefront of the national media landscape. Freeh issued a response, calling the report ���self-serving.��� ���As detailed in my report, the emails and contemporary documents from 2001 show that, despite Mr. Paterno���s knowledge and [Mike] McQueary���s observations, four of the most powerful officials at Penn State agreed not to report Sandusky���s activity to public officials,��� Freeh stated. The Paterno family, however, calls Freeh���s claims ���deeply flawed��� and questions the report���s thoroughness. ���Critics say it is no longer appropriate for me or my family to comment further on this case and that the Freeh report and the actions of the NCAA should close the book on the Sandusky scandal,��� Sue Paterno wrote to the lettermen. ���This cannot happen. The Freeh report failed, and if it is not challenged and corrected, nothing worthwhile will have come from these tragic events.��� Before the release of the family���s report, Wick Sollers, the family attorney from King & Spalding, took months to gather separate ���independent expert reports��� from former U.S. Attorney