Mike McQueary

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Mike McQueary
Sport(s) Football
Biographical details
Born (1974-10-10) October 10, 1974
State College, Pennsylvania
Playing career
1994–1997 Penn State
Position(s) Quarterback
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2004–2011 Penn State (WR/RC)

Mike McQueary (born October 10, 1974)[1] was an American former assistant football coach at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) under head coach Joe Paterno until late in the 2011 football season.[2] McQueary was identified as a key witness in the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.[3]

Playing career

After a high school career at State College Area High School, McQueary was a quarterback for Penn State from 1994 through 1997. He backed up Kerry Collins in 1994, and backed up Wally Richardson in 1995 and 1996. He started all 12 games as a senior in 1997, leading Penn State to a 9-3 record and a Citrus Bowl bid. In his first college start against Pittsburgh (on September 6), McQueary passed for a then-Penn State record 366 yards in a 34-17 victory over the Panthers. For the season, he completed 146 of 255 passes for 2211 yards and 17 touchdowns (both yards and touchdowns second in the Big Ten to Purdue's Billy Dicken), while tossing 9 interceptions.

As a result of Penn State being stripped of all of its wins from 1998 to 2011 due to the fallout from the sex abuse scandal, McQueary was the quarterback for Penn State's last "official" win under Paterno, a 35-10 win over Wisconsin in his final home game at Penn State.

Coaching career

Mike McQueary returned to Penn State in 2000 following attempts to catch on in the NFL with the Oakland Raiders[4] and in NFL Europe with the Scottish Claymores.[5]

As recruiting coordinator, McQueary oversaw the recruitment of several high profile recruits including Justin King, Derrick Williams and Andrew Quarless.

On November 11, 2011, Penn State announced McQueary would not be serving as receivers coach in the final home game of the season due to threats against him,[6] and put him on indefinite paid administrative leave. Later that day, The Patriot-News reported that McQueary told his receivers in a conference call that he would no longer be their coach.[7]

Role in sex abuse scandal

Main article: Penn State child sex abuse scandal

McQueary was identified as a key witness in the Penn State child sex abuse scandal.[3] Grand jury testimony alleged McQueary reported to Paterno of witnessing Jerry Sandusky raping a 10-year-old boy in a campus locker room; McQueary first told his father about the incident, then the next day informed Paterno, and then ten days later informed other university officials.[3][8]

According to investigators and legal experts, McQueary was initially not implicated in any wrongdoing because he fulfilled his legal obligation to report the incident to his immediate supervisor, Paterno.[9][10] However, he was criticized for not intervening to protect the boy from Sandusky, as well as for not reporting the incident to police himself.[11][12] McQueary later said he made sure the observed assault stopped before he left, and that he discussed the incident with police.[13]

The university senior vice president and others have been charged with perjury for saying that McQueary had reported only horseplay at the time. A prominent Pennsylvania nephrologist (kidney doctor) says that he was present when McQueary described the incident to his father and the description mentioned hearing but not seeing a slapping sound in the other room, seeing Sandusky put his hand around the child's waist and later emerging wearing a towel.[14] Mike McQueary's testimony for the preliminary perjury trial says that he heard 'two or three' slapping sounds before entering the locker room, and later saw Sandusky with his arms around the child's waist while hearing 'more than one' of the showerheads running and saw that the child's hair 'was wet'; although he did not see any sexual contact of hands or genitals or any evidence of arousal, just from the positions of the bodies he knew it was 'over the line' and 'extremely sexual' and 'some sort of intercourse' was taking place, and that he tried to explain what he had seen to Coach Paterno by using the word 'fondling.'[15] Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett, who as state attorney general opened the grand jury investigation, has said that McQueary "met the minimum obligation in reporting it up, but did not in my opinion meet a moral obligation that all of us would have."[16] It has been speculated that he was still employed because he was protected by Pennsylvania's whistleblower law.[11][10]

References

  1. ↑ http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/7237700/in-penn-state-child-sexual-abuse-scandal-there-no-easy-answers-assistant-mike-mcqueary
  2. ↑ "Bio: Mike McQueary". Pennsylvania State University. Retrieved March 18, 2008. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Ganim, Sara (November 6, 2011). "Report: Former coach Jerry Sandusky used charity to molest kids". The Patriot-News. Retrieved November 6, 2011. 
  4. ↑ Christopher Antonacci. "McQueary trades in blue and white for silver and black, signs deal with Raiders". The Daily Collegian (Penn State). 
  5. ↑ Jordan Hyman. "Waive goodbye: McQueary placed on waivers in NFL Europe". The Daily Collegian (Penn State). 
  6. ↑ PSU: McQueary Won't Coach Saturday Due to Threats (Associated Press, November 11, 2011)
  7. ↑ Jones, David (November 11, 2011). "McQueary tells PSU wideouts he's out as coach and in "protective custody"". Harrisburg Patriot-News. Retrieved November 11, 2011. 
  8. ↑ "Anger of Penn State boy's mother" BBC News Accessed November 11, 2011.
  9. ↑ Joe Paterno hires criminal defense lawyer J. Sedgwick Sellers. ABC News, 2011-11-11.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Drehs, Wayne. Coach may have whistle-blower status. ESPN, 2011-11-11.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Staples, Andy. Penn State making progress, but two personnel moves still remain. Sports Illustrated, 2011-11-10.
  12. ↑ Rana L. Cash, "Tom Bradley steps in with 'very mixed emotions' at Penn State", Sportingnews.com, 11 November 2011
  13. ↑ Penn State's Mike McQueary says he told police of alleged rape LA Times. Accessed November 16, 2011.
  14. ↑ Sports Grid, December 2011, , Sports Grid, December 2011;
  15. ↑ Dauphin County public files, December 16 2011, , Commonwealth of Pennsylvanania vs. Schultz and Curley, December 16 2011;
  16. ↑ Pennsylvania governor expects more Sandusky victims (Reuters, Nov 13, 2011)

External links

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Law enforcement/investigation
Organizations
Media
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