Penn State football coach James Franklin enflamed controversy surrounding the program Wednesday by walking away from reporters when asked about rape allegations against two former players.
‘Again, just great work by all involved at Penn State to turn a story nobody would have noticed into a national commentary on James Franklin’s inability to handle a simple job responsibility like a grown up,’ USA Today columnist Dan Wolken wrote sarcastically on X.
The program was already under the microscope as 19-year-old ex-Nittany Lions players Kaveion Allen Keys and Jameial James Lyons were charged this week with raping a 17-year-old Penn State student at their campus apartment over the summer. Another student claims she awoke to being sexually assaulted by Lyons, according to the criminal complaint obtained by The Associated Press.
Media were told by staff not to ask Franklin about the defendants, who are free on bond. But when reporters ignored that direction and questioned his handling of the situation, the Coach simply walked away from the podium and behind a backdrop.
In Franklin’s place, communications staff stood forward to repeat that the ‘athletics department will have no further comment.’ Franklin then returned to the podium only to retreat once more when asked again about his handling of the situation.
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