BEAVERTON — Nike co-founder Phil Knight has issued a statement blasting the Freeh report's characterization of Penn State coach Joe Paterno in the child sex abuse scandal involving assistant coach Jerry Sandusky.

Following the release last year of former FBI director Louis Freeh's report, Knight issued a statement saying he was saddened that Paterno apparently made missteps that led to "heartbreaking consequences."

But Knight now says that he may have jumped to conclusions, after a new critique that was commissioned by the Paterno family and carried out by experts that included Dick Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general and governor of Pennsylvania.

In a statement released Monday, Knight called the findings of the Freeh report unjustified and unsubstantiated. He also criticized the NCAA's subsequent sanctions on Penn State's football program as unwarranted.

Paterno died in January 2012 at age 85.