The anticipated NCAA penalties, which a CBS News source described as "unprecedented," include a bowl ban, perhaps for multiple years, and a reduction in scholarships. A report on CBSSports.com said the university could be fined up to $60 million.
Two Penn State football websites reported that players and coaches will meet at 10 a.m. Monday, one hour after the NCAA news conference is scheduled to start.
Some Nittany Lions took to Twitter to give their views on the situation. Two of them, offensive tackle Donovan Smith and tight end Garry Gilliam, vowed to stay at Penn State no matter how severe the penalties.
"Stop asking if I'm transferring," Smith wrote. "I'm staying at PSU no matter what. I love my school."
Gilliam tweeted, "No matter what happens I'm staying at Penn State."
Cornerback Stephon Morris touched on punishing the players for something that happened years ago.
"Once again, [what] did my brothers & future Nittany Lion brothers do?" he said on Twitter.
When asked about possible penalties at the July 13 "Lift for Life" fund-raising event, players by and large said they didn't feel a need to worry about them because they had no control over any decisions being made.
"We can't control it and it really doesn't matter what we say or what we think about it," McGloin said.
However, former player Adam Taliaferro, a South Jersey native who is a member of the university's board of trustees, said any action should also be made with a plan to assist the victims of child sexual abuse.
"Whatever is decided - I hope such decision are made 2 support the victims and promote healing 4 ALL affected - and not to just simply punish PSU," Taliaferro wrote on Twitter.
The anticipation over what punishments were coming seemed to overshadow the removal early Sunday morning of the Paterno statue from the east side of Beaver Stadium.
However, impassioned comments about the statue came from former players and strong Paterno supporters Franco Harris and Michael Robinson.
Harris, who did not return a call seeking comment, told WIP-FM (94.1) on Sunday that the dismantling of the statue was "a sad day for Penn State."
"I think it's a really sad day for due process and for people that believe in due process," Harris told the radio station. "All the people against Joe are happy. It's also a sad day to realize once again how weak our board of trustees are and how they succumbed to public pressure."
Harris reportedly accompanied Paterno's widow, Sue, and two of her children to the statue on Friday.
Writing on Twitter, Robinson, a former quarterback, accused his alma mater of "rushing to judgment" and asked, "Why not let ALL the facts come out," suggesting that the Freeh report, released July 12, was biased.
"The victims and Penn State community deserve ALL the facts," he said on the social media site, "not a biased, opinionated report accepted as truth. Freeh was hired."
Contact Joe Juliano at 215-854-4494 or jjuliano@phillynews.com. Follow @joejulesinq on Twitter. Read his blog, "Lion Eyes," at philly.com/sports/lioneyes
We invite you to comment on this story by clicking here. Comments will be moderated.
