Penn State University officials say they faced the threat of a four-year ban on playing football before the NCAA imposed sanctions this week over the school's handling of the Jerry Sandusky child molestation scandal.
 
Spokesman David La Torre said the potential for the multiyear "death penalty" was floated during discussions between Penn State President Rodney Erickson and NCAA officials before Penn State was hit Monday with a $60-million fine, a four-year bowl game ban, reduced football scholarships and the forfeiture of 112 wins.
 
The school’s trustees met with Erickson on the subject at a university hotel Wednesday night and afterward issued a statement calling the NCAA punishment "unfortunate" but better than the alternative - the so-called "death penalty."
 
The penalty hasn't been used since the NCAA suspended Southern Methodist University for the 1987 season. Reporters were barred from the conference room where the Penn State trustees met, and the trustees avoided them after the meeting broke up.