During a radio interview with 790 The Zone in Atlanta, Former Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer said, "What happened at Penn State was probably the worst tragedy that's ever happened in intercollegiate football."
For the car enthusiasts that aren't completely familiar with the Penn State scandal, here's a recap: In 2011, Penn State University faced federal investigations after serious allegations revealed that the University had covered-up incidents of child sexual abuse committed by former football team defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky. On June 22, 2012, Sandusky was found guilty on 45 counts of abuse.
What's more, due to an internal cover-up within Penn State that had continued for more than a decade, head coach Joe Paterno was fired while the school president Graham B. Spanier was forced to resign as well. Never should a school find its football program to be so important that it protects Jerry Sandusky and conceals the acts he has committed for the benefit of the sport.
Responding to the disgrace, NCAA ruled that the school must pay a $60 million fine (equal to an average annual revenue of the football program), sit out postseason for four years, reduce athletic scholarships from 25 to 15 per year for four years, and vacate all football victories at Penn State from 1998 through 2011. The school will also be supervised during a 5-year probationary period.
Just like that, Penn State lost its head coach, its school president, its football program, and its reputation. Now, Penn State will be losing its sponsors as well.
According to a report from AutoNews, General Motors is seriously reevaluating its sponsorship of the Penn State University Nittany Lions athletic programs. If GM withdraws its support, it will be the second company to do so after State Farm Insurance.
In GM's point of view, to support Penn State University is to support a toxic football culture that concealed crimes committed to children in order to protect the school's athletic reputation. What's more, due to the athletic scholarship reduction, all the talented players of the university will seek to transfer their scholarship to another school and continue to play football elsewhere. Finally, a four year postseason ban bars PSU's participation in any Bowl games so the program will not be eligible to compete for a championship in the coming years either. Given the controversy and given the broken football program, GM ad spots during Penn State games may simply be wasted marketing.
However, Barry Switzer suggested that perhaps the NCAA penalties punished the wrong people. Since Sandusky was convicted and Paterno and President Spanier were already fired, "the penalty was assessed and all those that the penalties were assessed for aren't there anymore." Assuming Switzer's position, does that suggest that PSU as a whole has suffered enough from the corruption of a few? Is GM's decision to withdrawal unfair as well?
Finally, Switzer also reflected, "The same zealous attitude on winning and being the best and winning national championships will occur. That's not ever going to change in college football." Sport culture is nothing if not intense. Given the fact that there are some things that will never change, would you dare GM to withdraw its support from PSU or NCAA football permanently?
How should GM handle its future relationship with PSU Football? Please share your thoughts in the comment box below.
