For decades Penn State was considered special, immune from the corruption of college athletics by virtue of Joe Paterno's high ideals, long list of victories and even longer list of graduates.

Now to many, perhaps most people outside Penn State, that's been exposed as an illusion.

A blistering report released Thursday found Paterno helped hush up allegations of child sex abuse against a former assistant that went back more than a decade, sacrificing the ideals he preached to protect his football program. Paterno, former FBI Director Louis Freeh said, was "an integral part of this active decision to conceal."

Nike announced it was stripping Paterno's name from a child care center at its headquarters, and there were renewed calls to remove a Paterno statue outside Beaver Stadium.