Paterno got $5.5m package from Penn State after scandal broke

As Chris is on a much-needed annual vacation, I'm standing in for him on the Penn State outrage watch. Unbelievable (via Slate):

The same month Joe Paterno found himself embroiled in the investigation of longtime assistant coach Jerry Sandunsky, he began to renegotiate his contract, reports the New York Times. It was January 2011 but the contract wasn’t set to expire until the end of 2012. Still, by August Paterno and the university president reached a deal that the coach would get a $3 million bonus if he made 2011 his last season. At that time, both men were deeply involved in the Sandunsky scandal.

When the university board of trustees got wind of the deal in November, a brief debate on whether the payout should move forward was quickly shut down and in the end gave Paterno pretty much received everything he wanted as part of a $5.5-million package. The fact that Paterno’s wife managed to get the use of “specialized hydrotherapy massage equipment” as part of that package illustrates just how much power Paterno had over the university and its officials.