Penn State Scandal: NCAA's Lack of Due Process Is Questioned by Unlikely Source

Here at Your Best 11 we've made our point about the process the NCAA undertook to arrive at the Penn State punishment. Stewart Mandel, at Sports Illustrated, took his time to talk about Mark Emmert overstepping his bounds to hammer Penn State. Several other writers around the nation said similar things that ultimately fell on a horde of deaf ears as the masses cheered the penalties.

As reported by Mark Brennan of Scout, Penn State's board of trustees gave a sign of life. It was planning to talk to Rodney Erickson about his decision to circumvent the board's policies to bargain down the punishment. Unfortunately, the trustees opted for the path of least resistance; they had to after it was revealed just how strong the NCAA was prepared to play its hand.

Well, on Thursday it was revealed that more than just media members are concerned about the NCAA's utter disregard for the process in punishing Penn State. From The Chronicle of Higher Education, Brad Wolverton reported that someone close to the Freeh report, on the condition of anonymity, is none too pleased with the NCAA either. The source told The Chronicle:

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That document was not meant to be used as the sole piece, or the large piece, of the NCAA's decision-making, It was meant to be a mechanism to help Penn State move forward. To be used otherwise creates an obstacle to the institution changing.

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In other words folks, even someone associated with the report does not believe it should have been all the NCAA needed to slam the door on Penn State.

The source continued:

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The Freeh team reviewed how Penn State operated, not how they worked within the NCAA's system. The NCAA's job is to investigate whether Penn State broke its rules and whether it gained a competitive advantage in doing so.

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Pretty telling stuff as the source made a point that so many people were so willing to concede so quickly. Using one piece of evidence, especially evidence that the NCAA did not compile, is not the way things should be done. It is akin to the NCAA using just the FBI, IRS and police reports without ever questioning Ohio State's players or coaches on the matter. That's not how it works. 

Slowly the wool is being pulled back. The proverbial curtain is being ripped away from the wizard. People are getting more information.

Wednesday, it was reported by The Morning Call (a Pennsylvania newspaper) that a Penn State spokesman said the NCAA dangled a four-year death penalty over Penn State to force its submission to the lesser sentence.

Thursday, Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported that someone, Jim Delany in this case, was in favor of giving the NCAA the "moral authority" to punish Penn State. 

Thursday, it was a source involved with the Freeh Report that said the NCAA was in the wrong. The source said that the NCAA should not have just rushed to feast on the carrion that was Penn State's image laying on the side of the road.

If getting this right was so important, skipping the steps should not have been the answer. Except, as we are seeing on a near daily basis, this was less about getting it right or fixing the situation; more about appeasing the public and striking while the proverbial iron was hot.