It wasn’t the death penalty, but it was close. Maybe it was worse.

The unprecedented sanctions that NCAA President Mark Emmert handed down Monday morning were stunning on so many levels.

First, the penalties were assessed not because of the usual reasons like paying players or illegal recruiting practices. From a strictly libertarian point of view (to put a political point on the issue), the transgressions of former assistant and current pedophile Jerry Sandusky were not under the normal purview of the NCAA, but this situation was not normal by any means. The governing body had to get out in front of this situation to maintain its credibility — letting everyone know they really are still in charge. “We needed to act, and we needed to act quickly and effectively,” said Oregon State president Ed Ray, who heads the executive committee. He’s right.

Second, the punishment was meted out not after the NCAA’s usually-lengthy judicial process. Emmert took on the findings of the Penn State-backed investigation by former FBI Director Louis Freeh and made this his own, acting with swift justice not normally seen from the head office in Indianapolis.

Finally, the harshness of the penalty itself: a four-year ban on post-season play, which has the effect of releasing every player on the Nittany Lions roster to leave without losing eligibility; a $60 million fine; a loss of 40 scholarships; and having 112 wins from 1998 to 2011 taken off the books.

The latter sanction has one primary effect: to take the name of Joe Paterno off the top of the list of all-time winningest coaches. To leave him there would have given tacit approval of the fact that Paterno knew about Sandusky’s crimes, but did nothing. The NCAA could not abide that, nor should they.

In an ironic twist, that move puts Florida State’s Bobby Bowden back in first place among Football Bowl Subdivision coaches; he had been there before, but NCAA penalties against the Seminoles for academic discrepancies took 12 wins away and put Paterno ahead. (Paul “Bear” Bryant is now second.)

So why didn’t the NCAA give the death penalty, as it had done to Southern Methodist so many years ago?

A good question, but Monday’s penalties are just as effective. Moreover, they don’t disrupt the operations of the other members of the Big Ten, who would have suddenly found a very large hole in their schedules, and in their athletic department bank accounts.

It will take at least a decade, perhaps two and maybe even more, before the Nittany Lions return to any semblance of their stature under Paterno. The rush of players out of State College will look like afternoon rush hour headed out of downtown Pittsburgh. For the next four years, the Lions will be the punching bag for the rest of the conference — everybody’s homecoming opponent. Rebuilding the program will be a monumental undertaking, and I pity the man who has to pull it off.

But all in all, the NCAA did what needed to be done. They took swift action to maintain the integrity of college football in particular and all of collegiate sports in general — invoking its own “best interests” clause.

It’s probably good that Paterno isn’t around to see it.