Franco Harris and two other former Penn State football lettermen are firing back at the Freeh Report calling it “highly flawed, and factually insufficient."

Harris, Rudy Glocker and Christian Marrone drafted the letter and are gathering support from other Penn State alumni who played for the late Joe Paterno.

6 News obtained a copy of the letter that the players plan to publish in The Wall Street Journal.

--UNEDITED: READ THE LETTER IN ITS ENTIRETY

The group criticized the NCAA, the Penn State Board of Trustees, and University officials for what they call a rush to judgment.

After former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was arrested on child sex abuse charges, administrators at Penn State wanted to do an internal investigator to see how Sandusky was able to abuse children on campus.

The University hired former FBI director Louis Freeh.

The Freeh group interviewed more than 400 Penn State employees and seized office emails.

That final report accuses school officials, including Paterno, of covering up the abuse to protect the football team and avoid bad publicity.

In a recent interview with 6 News, Marrone pointed out that Paterno’s name only showed up in three emails and criticized former FBI Director Louis Freeh for jumping to conclusions.

He believes few people have read the entire 267 page report and said in his opinion there is no evidence to prove that Paterno was fully and completely informed of the allegations against Sandusky.

“That report would never hold up in the court of law”, said Marrone.

Marrone played for Paterno in the mid-1990’s and like many credit his mentoring for their success in life after football.

He and many others have also criticized the NCAA for imposing harsh sanctions on the football team.

He feels the NCAA and the University should be doing more to help those men who were victimized by Sandusky, not punish innocent people at Penn State.

Hall of Famer Franco Harris has been one of the biggest defenders of Paterno since the Sandusky scandal broke.

He visited the coach’s statue outside Beaver Stadium just days before it was removed.

Harris told 6 News, “Deep down these people knew the character of Paterno and that there is no way there way a cover up.”

Harris said he thinks justice was served with the Sandusky verdict, but that Paterno is also a victim, especially in the court of public opinion.

He again criticized Penn State trustees for what he calls a lack of leadership and that their decisions continue to hurt the university and its alumni.

In the email to the football alumni, the players said they need to standup for their former coach.

"A grave injustice has occurred over these past two weeks that began with the issuance of the Freeh report," the email states. "After much review, it's clear the report is highly flawed, and factually insufficient. Yet, the media, the Board of Trustees, University officials and the NCAA, seem to have read only the conclusions and not the content of the report and have failed to question the report's evidentiary basis or lack thereof — they have rushed to judgment. As a result, OUR program has been brutally harmed and our Coach has been completely tarnished."

The players point to excerpts of the Freeh Report.

In an email dated May 13, 1998, from Curley to Schultz, titled "Jerry" and asking, "Anything new in this department?  Coach is anxious to know where it stands," is too vague to be used as proof of a cover-up.

The players point out the District Attorney chose not to prosecute Sandusky after a report was filed by police.

Marrone told 6 News dozens of players have signed a copy of the letter.

He said the Freeh Report unfairly portrays Paterno as a man responsible for the alleged Sandusky cover up.

"We will never hear from Coach Paterno, but those of us who knew him believe he, deserves the benefit of the doubt and like all citizens, is presumed innocent until proven guilty."