Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin finds himself at the center of shocking allegations this week. A former Penn State official accused Franklin of interfering with medical decisions on players on his roster.
On3 were among those to post on the shocking allegation levied toward Franklin.
The initial report comes from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
REPORT: James Franklin has been accused of interfering with medical decisions on players by a former Penn State physician, per @PhillyInquirer.
Details: https://t.co/xC7jaHU2i8 pic.twitter.com/5C0nlBggBh
— On3 (@On3sports) May 22, 2024
On3 writes that it was Dr. Pete Seidenberg, a former physician at Penn State, who made the allegations toward Franklin.
“According to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s John Luciew, Franklin allegedly overstepped his bounds. Seidenberg detailed a situation when Franklin and then-Penn State athletic director Randy Barbour wanted a player who attempted suicide to be medically disqualified from the team while he was receiving treatment in short-term psychiatric care,” On3 wrote.
A medical DQ would result in that player losing his scholarship.
The report indicates that the Penn State coach held “numerous meetings” with officials in order to “alter their medical decisions and the treatment advice and options given to players.”
There is also an ongoing lawsuit against Penn State that was filed by Dr. Scott Lynch. On3 writes that Lynch said that he was fired “because he refused to ‘allow a coach to interfere with his medical treatment and return-to-play decisions.'”
This is a difficult situation to read at this moment, and these accusations are terrible. This will likely remain a lengthy legal battle that will shake out one way or another.
[On3; Philadelphia Inquirer cited]
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022