“Penn State is grateful for their decades of devoted service.”

They’ve kissed and made up at Penn State.

Penn State and the Paterno family have buried the hatchet, according to a pair of statements released jointly Friday.

Sue Paterno, widow of longtime former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, said the eight years since the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal came to light “have been difficult.”

I’m glad her heart goes out to the kids who were abused by a man who was enabled by her late husband.

“The last eight years have been difficult, made more so by the opinions in the Freeh Report, which my family and I believe was deeply flawed, reached unsupported conclusions about Joe and unjustly criticized the culture of Penn State,” she said. “The university has made clear that Mr. Freeh’s opinions about Joe were never endorsed by Penn State. By confirming this position and reaching this understanding, the leadership of Penn State has acted in the best interests of the university, and for this I am grateful.”

Oh.  I guess it’s easy to forget who the real victims were here.

TFW you’ve really changed the culture

Yeah, this is not a good look:

Penn State coach James Franklin has been named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday by a former player, according to the filings obtained by PennLive.com. Safety Isaiah Humphries alleges in his U.S. Middle District Court complaint that he was subjected to violent and “overtly sexual” hazing during his time at Penn State. The university and defensive lineman Damion Barber are also named as defendants in the case. Additionally, linebackers Micah Parsons and Jesse Luketa, as well as defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos, are named in the suit as ringleaders for the abuse.

The suit is seeking unspecified damages. Penn State has not yet officially commented on the case.

According to the complaint, Humphries was subjected to intense hazing during his lone year with the Nittany Lions. The hazing allegedly took place in several areas on campus, including the Lasch Building. Humphries claims the alleged bullies would wrestle victims to the ground and shove their genitals in their faces. Other threats allegedly included assailants saying, “I am going to Sandusky you,” referencing disgraced former Nittany Lions defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

I’m waiting for the inevitable “boys will be boys” defense.  Nice program you got there, Penn State.

“Penn State truthers”

Jesus, I wish these people would find another hobby.

“One of the problems we have confronted that people don’t want to deal with is this: Suppose I’m telling you the truth,” said Lindsay, who took over the case five years ago. “Suppose that Jerry Sandusky is absolutely innocent. Do you realize the horror of what this has brought on a family, a man an institution – and it’s all a big lie? Suppose that I’m right.”

I’d rather not, thanks.

Won’t someone think of the enablers?

(AP Photo/Paul Vathis)

Give it a rest, you assholes.

Former Penn State trustee Al Lord, who helped research and write the alumni trustees’ report, said Tuesday he has heard other trustees quietly criticize the Freeh report. He said he hopes the newly public document changes minds.

“It’s about the reputations of Paterno, Spanier, Curley and Schultz. They’re the ones who had the ultimate damage,” Lord said.

About those reputations…

Spanier was convicted in 2017 of a single misdemeanor count of child endangerment, and has a request pending before the state Supreme Court to review his case. A judge in 2017 threw out Spanier’s defamation lawsuit against Freeh.

Two of Spanier’s top lieutenants when he was president, vice president Gary Schultz and athletic director Tim Curley, pleaded guilty to child endangerment on the eve of trial and testified against him. Both served short terms in county jail. Spanier is free on bail pending appeal, and his lawyer declined comment on the new report.

I could be wrong, but I don’t think you’re gonna be able to unring that bell, Al.

We’ve been waiting our entire lives for this.

Just when we thought we were out, they pull us back in.

Al Pacino will portray Penn State football coach Joe Paterno in an upcoming HBO biopic.

The film, directed by Barry Levinson, focuses on the sexual assault scandal that rocked the university and tarnished Paterno’s legacy.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and assume they’re not going to tell the story from the Penn State perspective.  Cue indignant Paterno family comments in 3…2…1…

Maybe they should put that on his statue.

Three Penn State administrators have just been sentenced to jail for their roles in empowering Jerry Sandusky’s not-so-secret life as a sexual predator, but I suspect what the judge said about Joe Paterno is what’s going to get the most attention.

Stirring a hornest's nest, Boccabella also rebuked to Joe Paterno, Mike McQueary, and others for failing to make reports of '01 case.

— Charles Thompson (@ChasThompson1) June 2, 2017

Paterno, he said, "could have made that phone call without so much as getting his hands dirty. Why he didn't is beyond me."

— Charles Thompson (@ChasThompson1) June 2, 2017

Just win, baby.

And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like…

So, it turns out the Penn State University trustee who told a publication he was “running out of sympathy” for people he described as “so-called victims” of Jerry Sandusky said Wednesday he is no longer seeking a second term on the board.

It’s a sad moment for his fellow board members, although probably not for the reason you think.

Anthony Lubrano, a fellow alumni-elected trustee and Lord ally, said Lord told him the decision not to seek another term was not related to his comments to the Chronicle.

“Of course, I’m disappointed,” said Lubrano, who deferred comment on Lord’s statements regarding Sandusky victims. “Al was the most cerebral member of the board. He’ll be missed.”

I was gonna make some crack about cerebral not meaning what Lubrano thinks it means, but, hell, the man might be right.

There’s remorse… and then there’s Penn State.

Effing victims.

Penn State trustee Albert L. Lord said he is “running out of sympathy” for the “so-called” victims of former Nittany Lions assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, according to an email sent to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

By the way, Lord is an alumni-elected trustee who’s currently seeking re-election.  Nice!

Guilt by association

It’s times like this that make you wonder what Joe Paterno might be facing were he still alive.

The former athletic director at Penn State University has pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor child endangerment charge for his role in the Jerry Sandusky child molestation case, more than five years after the scandal broke.

We’ll never know, of course, which may be a monumental blessing for his family.

Sad beyond words

There are times when that phrase is not a cliché.

This is one of those times.