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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Stephen Douglas

James Franklin Leaves Press Conference When Asked About Accused Ex-Players

James Franklin takes a step back from the podium during his own press conference. | @JacksonRanger1

Kaveion Keys and Jameial Lyons, two former Penn State Nittany Lions football players, appeared in court on Wednesday to face charges of rape and other sex crimes stemming from incidents on the night of July 7th. Both men were placed on interim suspension for a personal matter over the summer and were removed from the roster and dismissed from the university in early August.

A few hours after a court set Lyons's bond at $500,000 and Keys's at $400,000, Penn State head coach James Franklin was scheduled to speak with the press. Many in attendance had questions about the details surrounding Keys and Lyons, but Franklin and the school were not interested in answering them.

As the first question was asked by Centre Daily Times' Jon Sauber, Franklin stepped back from the podium so that Penn State assistant AD for football communications and content Greg Kincaid could step forward and read a brief statement that had already been sent to the press.

“Jon, we released a university statement already," Kincaid said. "Do I need to read the statement again?" Sauber said yes and Kincaid obliged.

"Regarding the two former Penn State football players, we released a statement yesterday and our program and athletic department will have no further comment. If you need this statement, please reach out to me or Chris."

Franklin then stepped back up to the podium saying, "Hey guys, any questions?" Asked another question about the former players, Franklin left. Kincaid again re-read the statement and someone else told the press to "please keep the questions to Wisconsin."

Franklin then reappeared and again said, "Hey guys," as if he were just arriving.

While Franklin having no comment wouldn't have been surprising to anyone, it was the awkward way which the press conference was handled that has drawn a lot more attention than Penn State was hoping for. Both local and national media members are now calling out both Franklin and the university for the way they're handling the situation.

The No. 3 Nittany Lions travel to Madison, Wis. on Saturday to play the unranked Badgers in a primetime game on NBC and Peacock.


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This article was originally published on www.si.com as James Franklin Leaves Press Conference When Asked About Accused Ex-Players.

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