Second Mile's Tax Records: ESPN's Weepy Matt Millen Was Listed In 2009, 2010 As A Director At Sandusky's Charity

We told you earlier about accused child rapist Jerry Sandusky's consulting pay from The Second Mile. But there are other revealing tidbits to be gleaned from the charity's tax records, such as who sits on its board. Consider Matt Millen, the ESPN analyst and former Nittany Lion who choked up on air the other day while talking about Sandusky's alleged crimes.

Millen is a member of Second Mile's honorary board, a fact he has disclosed "several times" on air, according to an ESPN spokesman. An honorary board position is usually a titular role for people who are willing to lend their names to an organization but don't want much involvement. Tax records, however, identify Millen as a member of the charity's state board of directors. It's an unpaid but significant role.

According to The Second Mile's bylaws, which were revised in November 2009, directors on the state board "create and approve policies," "adopt an annual fundraising plan," and "establish and enforce an appropriate set of bylaws governing the organization," among other things.

In the past few hours, The Second Mile has removed the lists of all its board members from its website. Until this afternoon, for instance, you could find the members of the honorary board on this page, which has since been pulled (screenshots are below). Millen's name appeared there alongside Mark Wahlberg's, Andy Reid's, and Arnold Palmer's. Cal Ripken and Lou Holtz recently asked The Second Mile to remove their names from the roster.

None of those names shows up in The Second Mile's tax returns—except Millen's. (If you're wondering if this is the Matt Millen, GuideStar, a nonprofit database, identifies The Second Mile's Matt Millen as an "ESPN Football Analyst.") Millen is identified as a director of The Second Mile on the IRS forms from 2009 and 2010, which pertain to tax years. The 2009 return, for example, covers a period from Sept. 1, 2008, to Aug. 31, 2009. Millen apparently held (or may still hold) a position of real importance at the charity. On the 2009 form, "director" is also the title listed for Jerry Sandusky. That's a distinction the ESPN analyst has failed to make clear to his audience.

UPDATE (4:50 p.m.): Millen and his wife gave The Second Mile at least $50,000 in 2010, according to the charity's 2010 annual report (image below). Has he told ESPN viewers? Unclear. [H/T Dan Fink]

UPDATE (6:09 p.m., November 14, 2011): We may have misread the donor category to which Millen and his wife belong. Upon further review, it looks like Matt and Patricia Millen gave between $10,000 and $19,999 to The Second Mile during the fiscal year 9/1/2009 through 8/31/2010. Apologies.