WBAL Sports Director No Relation to Alleged Penn State Sexual Predator

WBAL Baltimore sports director Gerry Sandusky’s name may sound identical to that of the man at the center of the Penn State football sex scandal, but he’s not related. The former Penn State assistant coach alleged to have molested eight boys is Jerry Sandusky, and they’ve never met, Gerry Sandusky tells the Baltimore Sun. 

Gerry Sandusky with a G

“When you hear your name said on the news attached to a horrific crime, even though it’s not a relative of yours, it’s jarring,” Sandusky said. “For years I’ve always had to introduce myself as Gerry with a ‘G.’ My mom decided to spell my name with a ‘G.’ Thank God she did.” 

The news man has gotten some 600-800 new Twitter followers as the news broke out of State College in the past week, and that’s before the Baltimore Sun article.

But Gerry Sandusky, who’s been at WBAL TV since 1988 and is in the broadcast booth for Ravens games, says he’s not exactly enjoying this nominal connection to a huge, and hugely unsettling, news story.

“It’s a very delicate thing because first and foremost, this is a horrific story,” he told the Sun. “If he is guilty of doing what he is alleged of having done, there are real victims that my heart goes out to.” 

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.