STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (CNN) — Penn State will have to return all of the football trophies won during a 14-year span as a result of sanctions handed down by the National Collegiate Athletic Association for school’s role in the Jerry Sandusky child sexual abuse scandal, a school official said Wednesday.
The move is another blow to the State College community, which has been plagued by the scandal for nine months.
Earlier this summer the NCAA fined Penn State $60 million, banned the football program from bowl games for four years, stripped scholarships and vacated the team’s wins from 1998 to 2011 following the Freeh Report, which issued a scathing statement about how much the university knew and when.
“Per the NCAA consent decree, all football team trophies won from 1998-2011 are to be returned to the awarding authority and we plan to do so,” said Jeff Nelson, assistant athletic director of communications for football at Penn State.
Some of the trophies that the school will have to return include their bowl game wins. Penn State won the Outback Bowl in 1999 and 2007, the Alamo Bowl in 1999 and 2007 (the Outback Bowl wins were in January of those years, the Alamo Bowl wins in December), the Orange Bowl in 2006 and the Capital One Bowl in 2010.
While those residing in Happy Valley are still trying to resurrect their image in the wake of the scandal and show they still back their team, they do have one thing to smile about this week as they head into their first football game without famed coach Joe Paterno.
Their spirit has won them $10,000 for the school’s general scholarship fund after they beat out more than 200 other schools in a voting campaign hosted on ESPN.com, according to a press release sent out by the school.
Penn State led the competition from start to end, the release said.
“We are elated to see this incredible expression of Penn State pride, spirit and support demonstrated by our students, alumni, faculty and staff, and friends and fans in winning the Pledge Your Allegiance contest,” Roger Williams, executive director of the Penn State Alumni Association, said in a statement. “This national victory is what Nittany Nation is all about. We know Penn Staters everywhere will join us in celebrating by wearing their blue and white with great pride.”
