Franco Harris wants answers from Penn State's board of trustees

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Franco Harris wants answers.

Harris is disappointed in the Penn State board of trustees' decision to fire longtime football coach Joe Paterno and has been publicly voicing his opinion to reinstate his former coach.

"He's done so much for this university," said Harris, who played for the Nittany Lions from 1969 to '71 before enjoying a Hall of Fame pro career, primarily with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

"[The board] didn't give him the dignity and the decency of three more games after 61 years. Even after he said he was going to retire and they still went that low to fire him and give no reason."

Harris drove from the Steel City to State College on Wednesday in hopes of meeting with university officials.

He phoned Penn State president Rodney Erickson and board chairman Steve Garban to invite them and other board members to The Diner, a well-known State College establishment on College Avenue, to speak with him over grilled stickies. They didn't show up.

"I'm doing this to get answers," Harris said. "No one has any answers on the justification on why Joe was fired."

The night of Nov. 9, just hours after he said he would retire at season's end, Paterno was fired by the board of trustees amid the child sexual abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky. Paterno's longtime defensive coordinator, who retired in 1999, has been charged with 40 counts of criminal acts involving the alleged molestation of eight young boys over a 15-year period.

Vice chairman John P. Surma said that night that the decision to fire Paterno and university president Graham Spanier was in the "the best interest of the university to have a change in leadership to deal with the difficult issues that we are facing."

Harris, who visited a "distraught" Paterno Sunday, said that is "totally false." Harris said Paterno did the right thing.

Starting Thursday, Harris said he is going to call every member of the board of trustees to ask if they would rehire Paterno. "I want each one to tell me yes or no. And I'd like to see if we can get another vote and have that vote made public."

For his public support of Paterno, Harris' position as a spokesman for the Meadows Race Track and Casino in Pittsburgh was "put on hold," the casino said in a news release. Harris said that wasn't a big concern based on everything Paterno has done for him.

"All the students are silent. All the alumni are silent. Everybody's afraid, and everybody does not hold the board accountable," Harris said.

"We can do two things. We can defend Joe Paterno and defend against sexual abuse. We can do both, and we're going to do both."