Nike co-founder Phil Knight issued a statement on Monday criticizing the Freeh report’s characterization of former Penn State head football coach Joe Paterno in the child sex abuse scandal involving assistant coach Jerry Sandusky, calling the Freeh report findings “unjustified and unsubstantiated.”
Knight was also extremely critical of the NCAA, saying that “the NCAA’s actions are exposed as unwarranted” and that the organization “acted outside its charter and rendered judgment absent any kind of investigation or judicial hearing.”
Knight previously issued a statement in July 2012 following the release of the Freeh report findings. “According to the investigation, it appears Joe made missteps that led to heartbreaking consequences,” he said in the statement. “I missed that Joe missed it, and Im extremely saddened on this day.” Prior to the release of the Freeh report, Knight had been more supportive of Paterno.
The newest statement came one day after the Paterno family released a 238-page rebuttal to the university-commissioned inquiry of former FBI director Louis J. Freeh.
Knight’s official statement reads as follows:
“Last July I was surprised and saddened by the Freeh Report and the subsequent press conference held by the former FBI Director. In response to the shocking findings, which were so definitively and passionately presented, and based on the reputation of Louis Freeh, I issued a statement which said in part, According to the investigation, it appears Joe made missteps that led to heartbreaking consequences. I missed that Joe missed it, and I am extremely saddened on this day.
I made this statement without having read the report in full. When I later took the time to do so, I was surprised to learn that the alarming allegations, which so disturbed the nation, were essentially theories and assertions rather than solid charges backed by solid evidence. On reflection I may have unintentionally contributed to a rush to judgment.
With the release of the report by the King and Spalding law firm, including analysis by former Attorney General Dick Thornburgh and former FBI profiler James Clemente, it is clear that the findings of the Freeh Report were unjustified and unsubstantiated. When this tragic story first unfolded Joe cautioned all of us to slow down and carefully gather the facts before jumping to conclusions. We owed it to the victims, he said, to get to the truth. It was counsel we all should have followed. Additionally, The NCAA’s actions are exposed as totally unwarranted. The NCAA acted outside its charter and rendered judgment absent any kind of investigation or judicial hearing. It was simply grandstanding.
And while some may still debate the who, what, when, where, why of this sad case, the clear villain, as Jim Clemente notes, is Jerry Sandusky himself.”
Paterno died in January 2012 at the age of 85.
