May 18, 2013

Penn State Scandal: Penn State adding player names, ribbon to jerseys

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STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Players’ names are being added to Penn State’s football jerseys for the coming season, the university announced Tuesday, along with to show support for victims of child abuse.

The team’s generic look – blue-and-white, no names on jerseys – has long been a trademark and was associated with the buttoned-down style of former , who was fired last year after his former assistant was arrested on .

said adding the names was a way to recognize the “resolve and dedication” of the players, as the team faces a four-year bowl ban and loss of scholarships under the severe penalties handed down by the NCAA last month over the school’s handling of the Sandusky scandal.

The changes will take effect with the Sept. 1 at home against Ohio University.

“We want our fans to know and recognize these young men,” said O’Brien, who was hired after last season. “They have stuck together during , and I commend them for the leadership they have shown.”

Fran Fisher, a longtime Penn announcer, said the jersey changes may ruffle some feathers among former players, and the vanilla uniforms will continue to be associated with Paterno.

“I think Coach O’Brien has a right to do whatever he wants to do to have an identity for his team,” Fisher said. “I think that the plainness of the Paterno era will be remembered because he considered it to be a team sport.”

Sandusky, 68, awaits sentencing on 45 criminal counts, probably next month, and is likely to spend the rest of his life in .

Paterno died of lung cancer in January, and a university-commissioned investigation of the Sandusky scandal concluded he and other top concealed allegations against Sandusky going back to 1998.

The NCAA also stripped the school and Paterno of more than 100 wins, dropping him from atop the list of the winningest coaches in major college football history.

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