Penn State to be hit with major sanctions by NCAA

A fan leaves a letter at the statue site after Joe Paterno was taken down. (Getty Images)

Penn State will be hit with significant penalties by the NCAA that could severely damage the football program's ability to compete, CBSSports.com has learned.

The NCAA has called a 9 a.m. ET Monday press conference to address the situation in the wake of the Jerry Sandusky scandal. CBS News reported earlier Sunday that the NCAA will hit Penn State with “unprecedented” penalties. A source confirmed that for CBSSports.com. There are indications that the penalties could be so unique and severe they would be different than any previously applied by the NCAA.

CBSSports.com has also learned that the penalties could last beyond one season. The NCAA on Sunday said that it will levy “corrective and punitive actions” against the school. A person with knowledge of the process said there is a way to impact Penn State's competitive ability in football without applying the so-called “death penalty.” That term could be mere semantics by the time the NCAA sanctions are announced according to a source. Penn State, the source said, may prefer the death penalty.

But even if the NCAA stops short of shutting down the program and docks Penn State several scholarships, critics have wondered where NCAA president Mark Emmert would get the authority. His letter to acting president Rodney Erickson in November putting Penn State on notice of a possible investigation seemingly departed from NCAA investigative procedure.

“How many other athletics department employees have there been [at other schools] that engaged in criminal activity and the NCAA has done nothing about?” said a person familiar with the NCAA process.

Penn State could be interpreted to be in violation of a couple of NCAA statutes. Bylaw 3.2.5 states that any institution failing to maintain “failing to meet the conditions and obligations of membership may be suspended, terminated or otherwise disciplined ..” However, such a penalty would have be ratified by two-thirds of the membership at the annual January convention.

Bylaw 3.2.4.12 states that members “agree to establish and maintain high standards of personal honor …”

NCAA president Mark Emmert and Ed Ray, chairman of the NCAA's executive committee, will be in attendance on Monday. That suggests that the committee itself may have taken the action outside of the formal investigative process. Critics of the NCAA penalizing Penn State have said the association has no jurisdiction in this matter that emerges from criminal action.

Jerry Sandusky was found guilty last month on 45 of 48 sex abuse charges involving young boys. Following revelations in the Freeh Report, Joe Paterno's statue was removed from Beaver Stadium Sunday morning.

If the so-called “death penalty” is applied, Penn State would become the second major college football program to be shut down. SMU was handed the death penalty in 1987. It chose not to compete in 1988 after being limited to road games only. The lasting effects from those penalties exist today. The program has had three winning seasons since 1986.