STATE COLLEGE, PA – JANUARY 24: Former Penn State assistant coach Mike McQueary walks outside after paying respect to former Penn State Football coach Joe Paterno during a public viewing at the Pasquerilla Spiritual Center on the campus of Penn State on January 24, 2012 in State College, Pennsylvania. Paterno, who was 85, died due to complications from lung cancer on January 22, 2012. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Days after a Penn State upset over Ohio State that left some wondering whether the Nittany Lions had gotten past the Joe Paterno era, the Jerry Sandusky case made its way into the headlines once again Thursday.

A judge in Centre County, Pennsylvania, awarded former Penn State assistant football coach Mike McQueary $7.3 million on Thursday. The judge ruled that the school had defamed and misrepresented the former assistant in regards to the Sandusky case.

According to reports, it took the jury barely four hours for them to decide to side with McQueary. The former assistant played a major role in the prosecution of Sandusky and the investigation into Penn State.

“What Penn State has done to Mike McQueary is outrageous,” his lawyer Elliot Strokoff told the panel during closing argument. “He should not have been a scapegoat in this matter, and certainly not for five years.”

While McQueary’s legal team argued that the school defamed him and made it hard for him to get a job at another school. McQueary’s lawyers left no holes barred when talking about the former Paterno assistant’s current situation.

He quickly found himself a pariah and a target for death threats from some portions of Penn State’s avid fan base, which blame him for tarnishing the reputation of the school’s storied football program and Paterno, its iconic coach fired days after Sandusky’s arrest.

Others questioned why he did not do more to intervene in February 2001, after witnessing Sandusky’s sexual assault of a young boy in a campus locker-room shower.

McQueary has said that he reported what he saw to Paterno and two administrators in the days after the attack. None of them informed police or child welfare authorities.

Now divorced at 42, jobless and living with his parents at their State College home, the 6-foot-5 former quarterback testified Friday that he has been unable to find work since Penn State placed him on paid leave, citing safety concerns in the days after Sandusky’s arrest, and later decided not to renew his contract.

Meanwhile, the Penn State lawyers argued that McQueary’s dismissal was just part of a routine coaching change.

While today’s step is significant, there is still more to come. A judge still has to rule whether McQueary’s firing was retaliation for his role in the Sandusky case. McQueary could also be a star witness in a pending child endangerment case against multiple former Penn State higher-ups if any of those cases come up.

So, while the Nittany Lions are making strides on the field, the Sandusky/Paterno era is still haunting them in the courtroom.

[Philly.com]

About Ryan Williamson

Ryan is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri and has recently returned to his Minnesota roots. He previously has worked for the Columbia Missourian, KFAN radio in Minneapolis and BringMeTheNews.com. Feel free to email me at rwilliamson29 AT Gmail dot com.