Corbett Responds to ESPN article
Governor says Much of ESPN Don Van Natta Jr.'s Story "is untrue"
For the first time, Governor Corbett is speaking out at length about the recent article stating he played a key role in the firing of the late Penn State football Joe Paterno. The ESPN "Outside the Lines" article, published in the April 16 ESPN Magazine "One Day, One Game", quotes a source as saying Corbett was proud of his role in the firing of Paterno. But speaking on the WITF Radio Pennsylvania program "Ask the Governor," Corbett says he had a minimal role in the Penn State Board of Trustees' discussion about whether to fire Paterno and President, Graham Spanier.
"When somebody said I was relishing, I never relished in the fact," he says. "There was a vote taken, an oral vote taken. There were no objections to it. The only thing I said, and I will stand by this, and I have many witnesses to that, before they voted, I said, 'You have to remember the children.'"
Corbett says much of the story by reporter Don Van Natta, Jr. is untrue.
"That article is so full of mistakes. I believe that article was misleading, and I believe it was misleading for a number of different reasons, and there was some kind of motive there. I was not the driving force there."
However, Anthony Lubrano, who was recently elected to Penn State's Board of Trustees, disagrees. "Do I think he [Corbett] played a significant role? Yes." Corbett also takes issue with the claim by Van Natta, Jr. that he declined to speak with him for the story. Corbett says his spokesman told the writer he'd speak with him after his trade trip to Europe in March, but was not contacted again.
Listen to Governor Corbett on the WITF radio program
