Paternos will release their analysis of report

By Vernon Clark, Inquirer Staff Writer
Posted: February 11, 2013

The family of Joe Paterno has said it will release on Sunday morning its own analysis of the controversial Louis Freeh report, which alleged the late Pennsylvania State University football coach and three top school officials covered up allegations of child-sexual abuse by former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

The family's critique, to be posted 9 a.m. at www.Paterno.com, will respond to the former FBI director's findings, which were endorsed by the university and served as the basis for the NCAA's extraordinary sanctions against the university's football program.

A simultaneous discussion on ESPN's Outside the Lines is expected.

On Friday, Paterno's widow, Sue, broke 14 months of silence with a scathing two-page letter addressed to "Dear Lettermen." It criticized Penn State's board of trustees and assailed the Freeh report as "an extraordinary attack on Joe's character and integrity."

She also wrote:

"I did not recognize the man Mr. Freeh described . . . Joe was exactly the moral, disciplined, and demanding man you knew him to be."

The Paterno family's analysis was compiled by a team of experts led by Sue Paterno's Washington lawyer, Wick Sollers, according to the letter.

On Monday, the family will continue to press its case when ABC telecasts an interview with Sue Paterno by Katie Couric.

Paterno died of lung cancer at 85 on Jan. 22, 2012. Sandusky, 68, was convicted in June of 45 counts of sexual abuse of minors in a case that drew international attention. He was sentenced to 30 to 60 years in prison.

Contact Vernon Clark at 215-854-5717 or vclark@phillynews.com.

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