A few things jumped out from the news conference (and report) held (and written) by Louis Freeh, the former FBI Director who conducted the investigation that led to the scathing report about the way Penn State covered up Jerry Sandusky’s crimes. How Penn State was out to protect itself and its football program.

–Freeh: “Our most saddening and sobering finding is the total disregard for the safety and welfare of Sandusky’s child victims by the most senior leaders at Penn State. The most powerful men at Penn State failed to take any steps for 14 years to protect the children that Sandusky victimized.” Amen.

–Freeh used the word “rape.” Bless him. Because that’s what it was. Sandusky raped young boys, 10-and-11-and-12-year-old boys. Calling it anything else almost seems to take a step toward sanitizing it.

–Freeh described one janitor, a Korean War veteran, saying what he witnessed in the shower between Sandusky and a boy was the worst thing he’d ever seen. But they were afraid to take on the football program, Freeh said, adding:  “If that is the culture on the bottom …” It’s interesting that Freeh was forgiving of the janitors not saying anything. But Freeh left no doubt how he felt about the corruption present in the University and its football program.

–Freeh did not trash Joe Paterno. He said the coach had “a terrific legacy, a great legacy.” But he added: “He made perhaps the worst mistake of his life (by not doing more about the 2001 assault). But we’re not singling him out. We’re putting him in the category of four others who were major leaders at Penn State.”

–Freeh: “The facts are the facts.” And the facts are disturbing and sickening.

–The depth of the facts is even more bothersome when it’s evident people could have done something before 1998, the first time Sandusky was investigated. Freeh said that staff and coaches “regularly observed” Sandusky showering with boys in locker rooms at the school before 1998. The University’s higher-ups – including Paterno – knew of the investigation into Sandusky’s actions in 1998. Yet even when they heard from Mike McQueary about the locker room rape in ‘01, they all decided, after consulting with Paterno, not to go to authorities. “There’s more red flags here than you can count over a long period of time,” Freeh said.

–Is it not then a reasonable conclusion to think that Penn State folks did not want Sandusky to be caught, that they considered their jobs and their beloved football program more important? That’s tough to swallow, but the evidence sure is persuasive.

–Freeh said that Penn State made an “active decision to conceal.”

–Paterno heard from McQueary on a Saturday. He passed the information along to higher-ups early the next week. Freeh’s report said Paterno told the Grand Jury he “ordinarily would have called right away, but it was a Saturday morning and I didn’t want to interfere with their weekends.”

–If this is the truth that the Paterno family wanted out, well then they have it.

–Keep in mind that Freeh’s report clearly states Paterno and the University were well aware of the 1998 investigation into Sandusky’s child abuse.

–Deadspin found this gem: In 1998, president Graham Spanier banned an agent for life from the campus. His sin: Buying a player $400 worth of clothes. Spanier said the agent ”fooled around with the integrity of the university, and I won’t stand for that.” Sandusky … evidently not.

–The descriptions from the victims are, simply, gut-wrenching.

–One describes Sandusky showering with a boy, then picking him up and holding him so his feet were at or near Sandusky’s waist, ostensibly so the boy could rinse shampoo out of his hair. University officials were told of this incident. Police overheard Sandusky admit he showered with the boy. They decided there was no crime, but did not think about the more important picture that should have been easy to see: This was aberrant behavior, and it needed to be addressed and stopped. For 14 more years, Sandusky abused children.

–Asked if the investigation had an agenda, which one questioner said supporters of Paterno were claiming, Freeh said: “It’s not correct.”

The report can be read here. It describes disgusting, disturbing, bothersome, immoral and illegal activity on the part of Jerry Sandusky, but also on the part of the leadership of Penn State, both in the University’s highest offices and in the football program.