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Tim Pernetti addresses media outside his home this afternoon after resigning as athletic director at Rutgers University.

(Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)

By Ted Sherman and Kelly Heyboer / The Star-Ledger

Embattled Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti was forced to resign today, just two days after head basketball coach Mike Rice got the ax.

Neither will walk away empty-handed.

Pernetti — under a settlement agreement obtained by The Star-Ledger — will be paid more than $1.2 million in return for his resignation. Under the terms of his contract, Rice is entitled to receive more than $1 million.

University officials declined comment on the payouts.

The departure of Pernetti was the latest fallout after a week of outcry over the abusive courtside behavior of Rice, who had been captured in a graphic video showing him shoving and kicking players, cursing, and using gay slurs at practice.

When the university was first confronted with the video in November, Pernetti decided not to fire Rice, suspending him instead for three days. He also fined him $50,000.

But a scandal over the coach’s behavior, and the university’s relatively tepid response to it, broke this week after the video was made available to ESPN and was broadcast nationally — generating wide outrage. Rice was quickly terminated and Pernetti soon found himself under growing pressure to step down as well.

READ PERNETTI'S FULL SETTLEMENT HERE

After a day of intense speculation that Pernetti would be forced out, the 42-year-old former Rutgers football player this morning finally announced on the Scarlet Knights website that he was leaving.

Pernetti said it was in the best interest of Rutgers that he submit his resignation, calling his continued tenure as athletic director “no longer sustainable” for the university.

"I do so reluctantly because I always have and always will love Rutgers," he said.

Rutgers president Robert Barchi, in a news conference later in the day, accepted

Pernetti’s resignation and apologized to members of the basketball team for Rice’s repeated and ongoing abuse.

“I apologize to any student-athletes on the team who may have been personally harmed; the kind of chronic and pervasively abusive behavior demonstrated on that video is unacceptable and does not represent the high standards of leadership and accountability we strive for within the Rutgers athletic program,” said Barchi.

The report by Connell Foley, released Friday, praised Rice for appearing to care deeply for his players and found the coach had not created a “hostile work environment” under a strict interpretation of the university’s anti-discrimination policies.

But it concluded Rice crossed the line of permissible conduct. It said the intensity of Rice’s inappropriate behavior “tended to embarrass and bring shame or disgrace to Rutgers,” in violation of Rice’s employment contract with Rutgers.

University officials Friday declined comment on the matter.

Barchi, in his comments to the press, called Pernetti a “sincere and honest” man who has made significant contributions to Rutgers.

'A STAND-UP RUTGERS GUY'

Pernetti had been athletic director at Rutgers since 2009 — succeeding Robert Mulcahy, who was fired over spending abuses in the university’s football program.

A former Rutgers tight end who later worked for CBS College Sports Network, the 42-year-old Pernetti served as the game analyst for the Rutgers Football Radio Network and had no experience as an athletic director before being tapped to take over the Rutgers program as director of intercollegiate athletics.

It was a job he said he loved.

Pernetti, in his letter, said he hoped his tenure at Rutgers would not be judged by the one incident.

“I am proud of my efforts to lead Rutgers into the Big Ten, and of all of the accomplishments of our student-athletes in the classroom and on the field of play,” he said. “It has been my great pleasure to serve my alma mater.”

He signed it Tim Pernetti, Class of 1993.

Read the details of Pernetti's settlement below.