Report: Paterno contract deal reached amid scandal

In this Aug. 6, 1999, file photo, Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno, right, poses with his defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky during Penn State Media Day at State College, Pa. / AP Photo/Paul Vathis

(AP) STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Veteran Penn State football coach Joe Paterno began talks that resulted in a sweetened retirement contract in the same month that he testified before a grand jury in the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse case, and all members of the board of trustees weren't informed of the new package before the scandal engulfed the university, according to a published report.

Paterno and the university reached agreement on the amended contract that eventually totaled $5.5 million in August, months before charges were filed against Sandusky, but they began negotiating in January, The New York Times reported Saturday.

The amended contract, which was reported on by The Associated Press in April, included a $3 million career bonus if Paterno retired at the end of the 2011 season, as well as well as forgiveness of $250,000 in outstanding indebtedness and an additional $100,000 in loans.

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The package also included access to a stadium box for his family for 25 years as well as parking privileges and access to on-campus hydrotherapy equipment for his wife.

The newspaper cited university records in saying Paterno first broached the idea of revisiting his contact in January, the same month he made a brief appearance before the grand jury, and some top university officials had also testified before the panel before the agreement was reached in August.

But the paper, citing "people with knowledge of the events," said details of the agreement were known to a handful of board members but not shared with the full board, which only learned about the lucrative contract when Sandusky was arrested in November and two university officials were charged.

Paterno then publicly announced he would retire at the end of the season in a statement that also told school trustees to focus their attention on other matters.

"I have decided to announce my retirement effective at the end of this season. At this moment the Board of Trustees should not spend a single minute discussing my status. They have far more important matters to address. I want to make this as easy for them as I possibly can," Paterno said at the time. "This is a tragedy. It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more."

Trustees, who agreed Paterno had not done enough to stop the abuse, fired him later that same day, a decision that was followed by rioting in State College. Paterno died of lung cancer in January at age 85. Sandusky is awaiting sentencing after being convicted of 45 counts of having molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period.

Paterno family attorney Wick Sollers told the Times on Friday that it was Penn State that proposed the lucrative retirement package, and that many elements such as the luxury box and use by Paterno of a private aircraft had existed in previous contracts.

Asked Friday if the university planned to try recover money from the Paterno estate, trustees chairwoman Karen Peetz said, "Contracts are contracts, and no, there's no plan to do that."

[ProtectAmericanJobs]

I think Joe Paterno belongs in the Hall of Shame - Not the Hall of Fame! He certainly does not deserve a statue and not taking it down would really send the wrong message to the kids that PSU is trying to educate as well as to everyone else.

I'm not sure about the NCAA death penalty for PSU football, but Joe Paterno was obviously not a good person. He may have been a football icon, but there are much more important priorities in life and stances that need to be taken. He had so many opportunities to do the right thing and be a standup guy, but didn't. Instead he was an enabler to one of the worst kind of criminals.

If they don't take the statue down, then I would say that they don't get it and that the NCAA would have to shut them down.

I LOVE football, but anyone sticking up for Paterno has really got their priorities screwed up. And what the heck was Joe's stance on or his real opinion regarding the sexual abuse of children?

I was never a fan of PSU, but I was always under the impression that he ran a class program and so did many others. I feel bad for the kids that actually choose PSU over many other programs for that very reason. Wow were we wrong. I think the NCAA should allow any PSU player to transfer to another program this year, without having to sit out for a year.

And most of all, I feel sorry for the people that were abused and their families. Thank goodness, some of them had the Courage to come forward! They're the ones that showed courage versus a supposedly legendary coach, who either had no courage or a severely warped sense of right and wrong.

And lastly, how about that district attorney, who somehow decided not to indict Sandusky and then went missing? How far reaching and evil is this mess?

The new PSU coach is trying to move the program forward and keep these kids motivated, but unless they have the guts to remove things like the statue and other reverences to Paterno, it will not be corrected.

[tapittwice]

Paterno is no better than the child rapist he both befriended and protected, I hope he is burning in hell. Anyone publicly defending him today are promoting child rape as well!

[BsPoppy]

Signed a contract as the whole fraud was falling apart with only some of the board members aware...not suspicious at all! Don't most contracts have integrity clauses....of I forgot "We are Penn State"!

[BsPoppy]

One of the reasons that Sandusky got away with his horrific crimes is shown in the top two comments. Lack of any caring for victims. The first suggests that Penn State settle quickly to save money because "The jury will be out for blood". The second states that Jerry should come clean, be honest"should use an honest approach and admit that he paid money for sex to young male Prostitutes. His silence and denials will lead to a life long state prison sentence". Any wonder Jerry had decades to rape innocents with impunity? Welcome to "We are Penn State"! Brianxjones above comment is a great candidate to investigate for possible crimes himself. How could anyone say anything that sick and not be a suspect?

[rainbowroosie]

This stinks!

PSU,
Be smart enough to settle civil suits out of court. The jury will be out for blood!!!

[carolhill814]

All of that money they offered should go to the boys because they have paid in so many ways I can't count.

I know what those boys feel like because I was there and nobody in my family cared but my two aunts and one uncle and they went to my mother and she did NOTHING so I know how they felt alone and deserted.

I think the entire school should be closed down and cleaned out and only after that reopened and started all over again.