Penn State: "Unprecedented" Penalties Reportedly Not Including Death Penalty

ESPN.com is reporting that while the NCAA is prepared to dish out unprecedented punishment to Penn State University, the punishment won't include the aptly titled "death penalty."

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NCAA president Mark Emmert has decided to punish Penn State with severe penalties likely to include a significant loss of scholarships and loss of multiple bowls, a source close to the decision told ESPN's Joe Schad on Sunday morning.

But Penn State will not receive the so-called "death penalty" that would have suspended the program for at least one year, the source said.

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Regardless of your standing on whether the NCAA should have gotten involved in the Penn State scandal, the fact of the matter is that there had to be some type of punishment for the non-action and alleged cover up of Jerry Sandusky by high-level university officials.

Penn State was wise not to punish themselves before hearing whether the NCAA would get involved or not, because now they will be at the will of an outside agency instead of being responsible for their own punishment—which would have been an extremely dangerous place for Penn State to be.

The involvement of the NCAA in this case is interesting to say the least. The NCAA isn't necessarily designed to get involved in situations like this that don't necessarily impact the on the field play or advantage of athletic programs.

An anonymous source who used to serve on the NCAA Committee Infractions Chair, as reported by ESPN.com, had this to say about the NCAA's involvement in this situation

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"The purpose of the NCAA is to keep a level playing field among schools and to make sure they use proper methods through scholarships and etc.," the chair said. "This is not a case that would normally go through the process. It has nothing to do with a level playing field. It has nothing to do with whether Penn State gets advantages over other schools in recruiting or in the number of coaches or things that we normally deal with."

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While no one aside from the NCAA committee knows what Penn State's punishments are going to be for its involvement in the Jerry Sandusky "cover up," it's clear that the death penalty will not be handed out.

In theory that sounds good for Penn State, but in reality the sanctions that are handed out could end up costing Penn State more—if it comes down to lost scholarships and loss of bowl appearances—than a one-year death penalty would have.

Penn State and the future of its beloved football program hang in the balance, because of a few men's actions and inaction. It's a sad day in Happy Valley to say the least, but it's a necessary sadness, because the responsibility of what happened is finally coming full circle.