Nearly 300 Penn State football lettermen are blasting the new HBO film about legendary football coach Joe Paterno as "uninformed" and a "reckless attempt of entertainment," Yahoo Sports is reporting.
The movie, "Paterno," which stars actor Al Pacino as the coach, premiered on HBO on Saturday night.
According to Yahoo Sports, the film centers on the Jerry Sandusky scandal at Penn State. Sandusky, an assistant coach under Paterno, was found guilty of child sexual abuse in June 2012.
Producer Barry Levinson said the film leaves it to viewers to make their "own judgment" about what Paterno may or may not have known about Sandusky, Yahoo Sports said.
The Morning Call newspaper noted the film's setting is two weeks in November 2011.
During that time, Paterno won his record-setting 409th game, was fired from his job and diagnosed with lung cancer.
"As Penn State lettermen, there was never a question that one day we would see a movie made about Joe Paterno, one that showcased his impact on the game of football, on Penn State University and, on the thousands of men he coached and mentored over his 61-year career," said the statement by those who played for Paterno.
"Sadly — and wrongly — HBO's 'Paterno' is not that movie. It has been described by producer Barry Levinson as a work of fiction, which is likely the only truth in the entire project. Incredibly, in making the movie, Levinson and his team never consulted a single person who was close to, worked with, or was coached by Joe Paterno. Not even family members or us, who undoubtedly knew him best of all.
"As a result, this uninformed depiction of Joe fails in every manner about the man we knew and loved. Deviously using 'fiction' as his shield, Levinson takes shameless liberties about the Sandusky scandal and Joe's knowledge of it that would certainly be proven libelous if Joe were alive today."
The statement added that Paterno was a positive force in the lives of the players, who set them on the right path for the rest of their lives.
"His character, integrity, and moral compass will live on in us long after the ill-gotten ratings of this reckless attempt at entertainment fades away," the lettermen added.
Paterno died in January 2012.
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