Penn State Scandal: Mike McQueary Not Attending Saturday's Game
Penn State takes the field this Saturday with new interim head coach Tom Bradley, but long-time assistant Mike McQueary will not be on the sidelines.
The school, plagued by a growing sex abuse scandal and firing of beloved long time record-breaking head coach Joe Paterno, had increased concerns over security during Saturday’s game with Nebraska.
A university statement read, “Due to multiple threats made against assistant coach Mike McQueary, the university has decided it would be in the best interest of all for assistant coach McQueary not to be in attendance at Saturday's Nebraska game.”
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State College Police Department Captain John Gardner said he planned to have every available officer working the game and warned students not to take to the streets, describing the crowds who protested on Wednesday evening as a "riotous mob."
McQueary, who also played quarterback for Penn State, told authorities that he saw Jerry Sandusky sodomizing what he thought was a 10-year-old boy in a locker room shower in March 2002.
McQueary was a 28-year-old graduate assistant at the time and did not intervene. He told Paterno what happened the next day at the coach’s house near campus.
When asked Thursday if he felt McQueary should still be on Penn State’s staff, Bradley said, "That decision is up to Mark Sherburne," who is the interim athletic director.
College football is wildly popular in the U.S. with a massive television viewership and large stadiums selling out. Penn State’s Beaver stadium is one of the largest with a capacity of over 100,000.
There have been calls for peace and solidarity at Saturday’s game. Fans have been urged to wear blue, the color associated with a “stop the abuse” campaign, rather than the traditional home color of white.
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett said that "When it comes to the safety of children, there can be no margin of error.”
