McQueary: Penn State 'threw me under the bus' for cooperating against Sandusky

BELLEFONTE, Pa. - Joe Paterno was "very unselfish." Tim Curley is "a good man."

But as an institution, Mike McQueary said, Pennsylvania State University "threw me under the bus" after he emerged as the central witness in the case against Jerry Sandusky and three university officials charged with covering up the former football coach's sexual abuse of children.

Testifying Friday in a Centre County courtroom, McQueary said he was caught off guard in 2011, when his testimony against Sandusky also resulted in charges against the administrators and eventually ended the career of Paterno, the school's iconic coach.

In the tumult that gripped the campus after Sandusky's arrest, McQueary said, the school, his community, and even the prosecutors he helped build a case all turned their backs on him.

"I just wanted some kind of support and some guidance," he said. "No one stood up and said, 'Here's a guy who tried to do the right thing and stepped up.' At no time did someone say, 'Hey, listen, this guy reported a pedophile.' "

His testimony capped the fifth day of trial in his whistle-blower suit against the university. All week, a string of school officials and McQueary's former bosses in the athletics department had testified about the circumstances that led to the former assistant football coach's ouster from his job.

In more than six hours on the witness stand Friday, McQueary shared glimpses of the deep betrayal he still feels from his alma mater and the avid fans who turned against him.

"I'm not a perfect person. I didn't handle this situation perfectly," he said. "But I did a good thing. I'm a darn good person."

He recounted the story that thrust him into the spotlight five years ago - about the February 2001 evening he spotted Sandusky sexually assaulting a boy in a Penn State locker room shower.

He recalled again how he reported what he saw - first to Paterno, later to Tim Curley, then the school's athletic director, and vice president Gary Schultz.

He testified in the same calm and confident tones he displayed during Sandusky's 2012 trial and at pretrial hearings in the still-pending child endangerment case against Curley, Schultz, and former Penn State president Graham B. Spanier. Lawyers for each were in the courtroom Friday, listening for discrepancies in McQueary's testimony.

It was only in discussing the wreckage the Sandusky scandal had made of his life that the 6-foot-5 former Nittany Lions quarterback showed flashes of emotion. McQueary choked up while discussing how gracious his hero, Paterno, was even after it became clear his allegations about Sandusky would end the coach's career.

"He said, 'You didn't do anything wrong,' " McQueary told jurors. "He was very unselfish about all of it. He was good to me."

The assistant said Paterno also told him to be wary of the administration. "He said, 'Don't trust Old Main,' " McQueary recalled.

He acknowledged the criticism from many - including Penn State lawyer Nancy Conrad in her cross-examination - that he could have done more to stop the 2001 sexual assault, or could have been more forceful in reporting it. But he said he didn't deserve the vitriol and threats that he has dealt with since.

"I'm not here to say I handled it exactly perfect," he said. "I'm a man and I can take responsibility for that. But you don't treat someone like that when they try to do the right thing against such awful acts. You don't do that to someone."

McQueary was placed on administrative leave after the university received a flood of emails and phone calls threatening violence against him and his family for the damage done to Penn State's reputation through his cooperation with investigators.

Months later, the school chose not to renew his employment contract, and he never returned to his job.

The university has denied his claims that its decision to let him go had anything to do with the Sandusky scandal. Penn State lawyers say McQueary was removed - along with seven other assistant coaches - in a routine staffing shake-up by Paterno's replacement.

McQueary is seeking $4 million in lost wages and says the university undermined his credibility, making it difficult for him to find new work.

Divorced and forced to move back home with his parents, he said he has applied for dozens of coaching jobs and sought potential new careers as a golf pro and in medical device sales, but cannot get hired.

"I'm a darn good football coach. I learned from the best football coach to ever step on this planet," he told jurors. "Now I can't get a job at the Rite Aid working the cash register? That's humiliating."

The trial is expected to continue into next week.

jroebuck@phillynews.com 215-854-2608 @JeremyRRoebuck