FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, May 29th, 2013

BOB COSTAS RE-EXAMINES THE FREEH REPORT TONIGHT ON “COSTAS TONIGHT,” 11 P.M. ET ON NBC SPORTS NETWORK

Costas Interviews Representatives of Joe Paterno’s Family Including Spokesman Dan McGinn, Former Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, and Paterno Family Attorney Wick Sollers

McGinn, Thornburgh and Sollers Announce Lawsuit Against NCAA

Episode Airs TONIGHT Following Chicago-Detroit Game 7 on NBC Sports Network

NEW YORK – May 29, 2013 – Representatives of former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno’s family including Paterno spokesman Dan McGinn, Former Attorney General and Pennsylvania Governor Dick Thornburgh, who wrote an independent review of the Freeh Report, and Paterno family attorney Wick Sollers, join Bob Costas, a 25-time Emmy Award-winning journalist and one of America’s preeminent interviewers, on the latest edition of Costas Tonight, a 60-minute program, airing tonight at 11 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network, following the NHL Western Conference Semifinal Game 7 between Chicago and Detroit.

During the program, Costas re-examines the Freeh Report as it pertains to former Penn State head coach Joe Paterno. The full version of the Freeh Report is available on progress.psu.edu/the-freeh-report and the Thornburgh Report is available at paterno.com.

During Costas Tonight, which was recorded Tuesday at NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn., McGinn, Thornburgh and Sollers announce a lawsuit against the NCAA on behalf of the Paterno family and several Penn State trustees, faculty, former players and coaches.

Click here to watch a clip from Costas Tonight where Costas, Sollers and McGinn discuss the lawsuit:

http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/22825103/vp/52034405#52034405

If used, please note the mandatory credit: “In an exclusive interview airing tonight on Costas Tonght on NBC Sports Network.”

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EXCERPTS FROM COSTAS’ INTERVIEW WITH MCGINN, THORNBURGH AND SOLLERS:

Sollers on the lawsuit and what it entails: “The lawsuit is being filed against the NCAA and Mark Emmert, in his individual and official capacity as the president of the NCAA, and Edward Ray, who was the chairman of the executive committee of the NCAA. It’s being filed by certain trustees, certain former players, certain former coaches, certain former faculty members, as well as the estate of Joe Paterno, to redress the NCAA’s 100 percent adoption of the Freeh Report and imposition of a binding consent decree against Penn State University. The reality is that consent decree was imposed through coercion and threats behind the scenes and there was no ability for anyone to get redress. There was no board approval, there was no transparency, and there was no consideration of this consent decree.”

Sollers on how he thinks the NCAA will respond: “The NCAA is going to fight tooth and nail to try to keep this lawsuit from going forward on legal grounds, because I do not believe they’re going to want to suffer discovery and the opportunity for the plaintiffs to gain discovery about the relationship between the NCAA and the Freeh group, and other behind-the-scenes moves to cram down this consent decree.”

McGinn on the lawsuit: “It’s designed to try to correct the record here. We know that you can’t undo all the damage that’s been done. We know that this is going to be a fight for the long term. When I speak of the damage, it’s not just to the Paterno family, the Paterno name; it is to Penn State, a great institution that has a great history and tradition in sports. It’s to the alums there, the students, the faculty, and the community. The NCAA wrecked enormous damage to this community, and this is just one way to get the record right.”

Sollers on Freeh: “Mr. Freeh has been named as someone who was a cooperating individual, actually a co-conspirator, with the NCAA in this lawsuit. There were close communications between the NCAA, as well as the Freeh Group, all through the Freeh Group investigation, and the NCAA stood on the sidelines instead of doing what they should have done with a full investigation. We have given a lot more allowance to Louis Freeh than he gave to Joe Paterno, and the people he named in his report. We don’t know his motivations for it; we just know he got it wrong. ”

Thornburgh on the Freeh Report: “The report itself is deeply flawed, and it is, in many respects, incomplete, inaccurate. In our review, we found that it relied much more on speculation and conjecture than on facts that were developed through the investigation.”

McGinn on Paterno: “Here’s what you need to know about Paterno. He was never interviewed once when he was fired. [The NCAA] had no conversation with him after 60 years of service. We engaged with Freeh and said, ‘We’d like to have the chance to respond to any charges.’ They put the report out. There was no filter. They put it out immediately. It blew up. It was like taking a blow torch to a dry set of woods.”

Thornburgh on the allegations of a cover up: “It didn’t happen. There was no attempt at a cover up. Why would Joe Paterno fear bad publicity? The whole premise is false here – that somehow there was a motive to prevent bad publicity, and that he would put his entire life, his family name forever, his program, the university he loved, it does not add up and the facts don’t support it.”

Sollers: “There’s no instance where Joe Paterno ever asked anybody not to fully investigate, not to report, not to do the right thing. We know that from conversations with the lawyers, from other key protagonists in this matter, and across the board. Joe Paterno did what he thought was right with the information he had at the time.”

McGinn: “The Paterno family never said to me to clear our names. They never said just fight for the legacy, Joe Paterno. I was with him as he was dying and he said, ‘Just get the truth. I have confidence. Make sure the truth comes out.’”

About Costas Tonight:

Costas Tonight builds on Costas’ long and storied career as an interviewer from Later with Bob Costas and Costas Coast-to-Coast to his acclaimed HBO programs, On the Record and CostasNOW. Costas Tonight originates from Studio 3 at NBC Sports Group’s International Broadcast Center in Stamford, Conn.

PROGRAMMING NOTE: Following the program on Joe Paterno and Penn State, NBC Sports Network will air a special 30-minute edition of Costas Tonight featuring separate one-on-one interviews with tennis legend Jimmy Connors and basketball Hall-of-Famer Jerry West.

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