Will Football Remain King At Penn State?

Interim Penn State football coach Tom Bradley, shown here at a Nov. 12 game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers, is now focused on Saturday's game against Ohio State.

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:?And as we said earlier, the Penn State Nittany Lions takes on Big 10 rival, Ohio State, tomorrow. And though it may be under a cloud now, football has long been king at Penn State. The program is one of the most lucrative in the country.

As NPR's Joel Rose reports, some in State College are questioning its influence.

JOEL ROSE, BYLINE: At his press conference this week, interim Penn State football coach Tom Bradley tried to focus on tomorrow's game in Columbus.

TOM BRADLEY: It's still Ohio State-Penn State. This is all about the players. This is about our team. It's about their team. It's still football. Great atmosphere. College football. And it'll be a spirited match, regardless of what's going on outside.

ROSE: What's going on outside is the biggest scandal in the history of Penn State - and maybe, college football period. It's already brought down legendary football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier. Still, interim coach Bradley said he would not rule out a possible post-season Bowl Game appearance for his team.

BRADLEY: The players and the guys on this team didn't have anything to do with any of this that's surrounding them. There were rumors swirling around that if we make it that we won't be able to go to a Bowl Game. I told them that was untrue.

ROSE: Football is a huge source of pride for Penn State, and a big source of revenue, too. According to the Department of Education, the football team brought in more than 70 million dollars during the 2009-2010 season.

MARC GANIS: This is only the tip of the iceberg. The big money that Penn State generates from its football program actually relates to its fundraising.

ROSE: Marc Ganis is president of consulting firm Sportscorp Limited. He says Penn State used its winning football program - epitomized by coach Joe Paterno - to raise hundreds of millions of dollars.

GANIS: He's used at alumni events. He is used to meet with big donors, people who are big contributors to the university, and not just the athletic department.

ROSE: Those dollars literally helped to build Penn State from a remote agricultural school into a major research university. Football helped enrich local businesses, too. But critics say those dollars also silenced debate about the growing power and secrecy of the football program.

Peter Buckland grew up in State College. His father taught English at Penn State for 35 years; now Buckland is a grad student here.

PETER BUCKLAND: People have this kind of consciousness that they think they're not supposed to say anything bad about football. You could say oh, the team isn't doing any good or this or that. But you can't criticize the structure of football – the institution of football. You know, it's kind of like making fun of Jesus.

ROSE: Though, even Buckland admits that the team's reputation for high academic standards is well-deserved. Former coach Paterno donated money to the campus library that bears his name. And many students at Penn State still see the football program as a force for good. Senior Michael El-Saleh is president of the Student Athlete Advisory Board, and a member of the men's fencing team.

MICHAEL EL-SALEH PRESIDENT OF STUDENT ATHLETE ADVISORY BOARD, PENN STATE: As a fencer, with a smaller sport, non-revenue support, I mean majority of a lot of sports on campus, including mine, run solely on the football program. Most people on the campus love football. It's something to be proud of.

ROSE: But there are those on campus who think that love for Penn State football goes too far.

MINDY KORNHABER: The central thing for many of the students is football, football culture, tail-gaiting. I think it's out of balance.

ROSE: Mindy Kornhaber is a professor at Penn State's College of Education. She hopes the current crisis will lead to some soul-searching at Penn State.

KORNHABER: There's a reorientation that could happen as a result of this, where the academic side of this really strong university gets bolstered. And the football side – which isn't inherently bad – takes its proper role and gets in proper perspective.

ROSE: Kornhaber says the initial signs from the university's interim administration are hopeful. But, she says, a real debate about the role of football in campus life has yet to begin.

Joel Rose, NPR News, State College, Pennsylvania.

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