HARRISBURG, Pa. -- The NCAA wants to question two men who claim they were sexually abused in the 1970s by former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.
The NCAA said it needs that information to defend itself from a defamation lawsuit filed by the family of Joe Paterno, the team's late head coach.
One of the men said he told Paterno in 1976 that he was abused by Sandusky. He has asked a judge to protect his identity and limit questioning by lawyers in the Paterno family's suit against the NCAA.
The Centre Daily Times reported Tuesday that the NCAA doesn't want to embarrass or publicly identify the man. But the NCAA said if his claims and those of another man who claimed he was abused in the 1970s are true, it would be an absolute defense in the defamation lawsuit.