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Report: Paterno family to announce lawsuit against NCAA

Tonight on the NBC show "Costas Tonight," representatives for the Paterno family will announce a lawsuit on behalf of the Paterno family against the NCAA, according to NBC Sports vice president Adam Freifeld.

The show, which airs at 11 p.m. on NBC Sports Network, will feature Bob Costas' evaluation of the Freeh report and commentary from Paterno family lawyer Wick Sollers, Paterno family spokesman Dan McGinn and former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh. No member of the Paterno family is scheduled to appear. The lawsuit news was first reported this morning by PennLive.com.

Last July, shortly after the release of the Freeh report, the NCAA sanctioned Penn State for its role in the Jerry Sandusky scandal, banning the team from the postseason for four years, limiting scholarships, fining the school $60 million and removing all of Penn State's victories from 1998 to 2011. The latter punishment dropped former football coach Joe Paterno's victory total from 409, the most in Division I-A football, to 298.

In February, the Paterno family, with the help of Mr. Thornburgh, Mr. Sollers, former FBI profiler Jim Clemente and sexual disorders expert Fred Berlin, released the "Paterno Report," critiquing last summer's Freeh report, which concluded that former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno contributed to a cover-up of Sandusky's child sexual abuse. The Freeh report also concluded that former Penn State administrators Tim Curley, Gary Schultz and Graham Spanier had a role in the coverup.

The Paternos' report, however, concluded that Louis Freeh's investigative team did not interview enough key people and relied too much on the email chains between Mr. Curley, Mr. Spanier and Mr. Schultz.

Mr. McGinn, the Paterno family spokesman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did Penn State University.

Michael Boni, the lawyer who represents Sandusky victim Aaron Fisher -- Mr. Fisher has publicly said he is Victim 1 from the Sandusky charges -- said it was "absurd" for the Paterno family to be filing a lawsuit.

"I think it's clear the Paterno estate is using the Freeh report as a bogey-man, blaming it as though the Freeh report is causing undue problems for the Paterno estate," Boni said. "And they're not seeing, unfortunately, Joe Paterno is not a deity. He's a normal guy. He made a big mistake. It doesn't mean he's an evil guy. ...The estate should show some character, own up to the mistake he made and ask people to realize he's a complex person who did tremendous good and made a mistake."

The NCAA already faces a lawsuit with regards to Penn State, filed by the Commonwealth in January, arguing that the NCAA skipped its usual protocol for punishment and inflicted damage on Pennsylvania citizens who benefit economically from Penn State football. A federal judge is supposed to make a decision within the coming weeks as to whether to dismiss the lawsuit.


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