Now what at Penn State?

Now what?

That’s the question that continues to hang in the air over the smoldering embers of the Penn State football program in the wake of the withering report from former FBI boss Louis Freeh.

The blistering package laid bare what a lot of people had suspected, that key university officials actively tried to keep the Jerry Sandusky scandal under wraps. Those officials include former President Graham Spanier, and legendary head football coach Joe Paterno.

I don’t particularly care about what happens to the statue of JoePa that sits outside Beaver Stadium. Or whether or not a mural in town of the winningest coach in college football history has a halo over his head.

I do care about what happens to the football program. That’s because I think the “football culture,” specifically at Penn State where that program reigns supreme, is at the root of this scandal.

Some powerful people decided that the program – and protecting it from any tarnish – was more important than protecting children from a sick pedophile monster.

That’s why I just can’t imagine a football team in those familiar blue and white uniforms running out onto the Beaver Stadium field this September.

I would think the university would do the right thing and shut the program down for a year. If they don’t, the NCAA should do it for them.

I’m not really sure it will happen. Football is that big a deal at Penn State.

And the reason this story wound up as big as it is. A tremendous amount of damage has been done to a very good public institution.

Allowing a Penn State team to take the field this year will only compound it.