Paterno statue removed, sanctions to come Monday

The statue of Joe Paterno has been removed from its pedestal outside Beaver Stadium, according to espn.com.

A work crew removed the statue shortly before dawn in State College, Pa. The crew installed chain-link fences to barricade access to Porter Road outside the stadium and covered the fence with a blue tarp.

The crew then removed the 7-foot, 900-pound bronze statue by forklift and stored it in the lower level of the stadium.

From there, it will be placed in an unnamed secure location, Penn State President Rodney Erickson announced Sunday morning.

Whether to remove the statue had become a passionate debate after former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh released a scathing report July 12 that found Paterno was instrumental in helping cover child sex abuse allegations against former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

The report concluded that Paterno, former President Graham Spanier, former Vice President Gary Schultz and Athletic Director Tim Curley covered up the allegations in order to avoid negative publicity of the university and its storied football program.

Now that the fate of the statue and Sandusky, who was convicted on 45 counts of child sex abuse and awaits sentencing in September, have been decided, attention turns to the fate of Penn State football.

The NCAA will announce “corrective and punitive measures” for the program at 9 a.m. Monday, it said in a statement Sunday. NCAA president Mark Emmert and chairman of the NCAA executive committee  Ed Ray will reveal the punishments from a press conference at the organization’s headquarters in Indianapolis.

— Joe Popely