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

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.

James Franklin refused to comment on rape charges against former players. My story, with video (from @JacksonRanger1) of when Franklin was asked:https://t.co/9pbLokyZag pic.twitter.com/JUMZWhMbOR
— Jon Sauber (@JonSauber) October 24, 2024

“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.

Face of the football program. Most recognizable person associated with Penn St. Demands athletes be held accountable. Paid millions, some of it taxpayer money.

Yet refuses to stand up and deliver a statement or face important questions from reporters doing their jobs. 🤮 https://t.co/FDhybIV8Ku
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 24, 2024

Legitimately not sure this could have been handled more poorly https://t.co/bjI0MkyLUe
— Jonathan Jones (@jjones9) October 24, 2024

So poorly handled here by Penn State. https://t.co/1rbj4kRGB0
— Scott Fowler (@scott_fowler) October 24, 2024

The reporters did their jobs by pushing for an answer. And I am sure it was made crystal clear to Franklin by PSU legal dept that he is not to comment. This stuff isn’t hard but people are outraged by this exchange for some reason https://t.co/ZkT3hZTR4Z
— Paul Zeise (@PaulZeise) October 24, 2024

-Reporter under no obligation to abide by a “request” from a media relations department.
-Franklin can’t say “no comment” himself?
-PSU football - of all places - probably shouldn’t be defensive about alleged sex crimes.
-The PR guy probably has the Paterno statue in his garage. https://t.co/P4FRfoMlJc
— Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) October 24, 2024

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