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Things not going well for James Franklin

Parliament

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BurntOrange&White

BurntOrange&White 40023

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Is there any entity outside of MLFootball and  basicbluesnation.com reporting this? If so, you'd think this would be a bigger story.  

MLFootball is a pretty reputable account and they had it first.

 

Major publications followed

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Edited by BurntOrange&White
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Herpa Derpa

Herpa Derpa 6131

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Big story in Philly paper.

https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/penn-state/penn-state-lawsuit-james-franklin-alleged-meddling-20240521.html?query=james franklin

Spoiler

Former Penn State doctor testifies that James Franklin meddled in team’s medical decisions

The team's former director of athletic medicine claims in a lawsuit that he was fired because he refused to “allow a coach to interfere with his medical treatment and return-to-play decisions."

Penn State coach James Franklin on the sideline during the Peach Bowl against Mississippi on Dec. 30.
Penn State coach James Franklin on the sideline during the Peach Bowl against Mississippi on Dec. 30.Brynn Anderson / AP
by John Luciew, PennLive
Updated May 22, 2024, 11:59 a.m. ET
|
Published May 21, 2024, 2:12 p.m. ET

A second team doctor with Penn State’s football team testified Tuesday about several occasions when coach James Franklin attempted to interfere with the medical decisions of team doctors and trainers.

This interference included a player who attempted to kill himself by throwing himself out a window, according to Dr. Pete Seidenberg, who served as a primary care team physician during Franklin’s early years as head coach. Seidenberg is no longer with Penn State and practices out of state.

“Thankfully someone stopped him,” Seidenberg said of the player who was not named in open court in Dauphin County.

The suicidal player was still receiving treatment in short-term psychiatric care when Seidenberg testified that Franklin and then-Penn State athletic director Sandy Barbour wanted the player medically disqualified from the team.

Seidenberg testified this would have meant the player would lose his Penn State scholarship so Franklin could offer it to another player during the upcoming offseason.

Seidenberg testified that he and Dr. Scott Lynch, then Penn State’s director of athletic medicine and orthopedic consultant to the football team, declined to follow Franklin’s and Barbour’s request. Seidenberg said it would have been the equivalent of disqualifying a player with a torn ACL before he received surgery.

James Franklin has been Penn State's head coach since 2014.
James Franklin has been Penn State's head coach since 2014.Carlos Osorio / AP

The incident was one of several detailed Tuesday by Seidenberg as part of the ongoing trial in a lawsuit filed by Lynch, who was fired from his dual roles with the Nittany Lions on March 1, 2019.

The suit alleges that Lynch had repeated clashes with Franklin, who took over in 2014. Lynch claims he was fired because he refused to “allow a coach to interfere with his medical treatment and return-to-play decisions.”

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Lynch says he reported Franklin’s interference to Penn State Athletics and Penn State Health, including his immediate supervisor there, Kevin Black, who is also being sued by Lynch. He is seeking compensatory and punitive damages in the case.

The defense said there is no evidence that Lynch ever altered his medical treatment of players under pressure from Franklin — or anyone else.

» READ MORE: https://www.inquirer.com/college-sports/penn-state/abdul-carter-penn-state-blue-white-game-james-franklin-20240414.html

On the witness stand, Seidenberg detailed numerous meetings in which he said Franklin pressured him, Lynch, and the chief athletic trainer to alter their medical decisions and the treatment advice and options given to players.

Repeatedly, after detailing these incidents, Seidenberg described Franklin’s actions this way: “I perceived that as his attempt to influence medical decisions.”

Dauphin County Court Judge Andrew Dowling barred the doctor from repeating any of Franklin’s words on the witness stand. Instead, Seidenberg had to testify to what he observed and the conclusions he drew from Franklin’s actions.

Franklin and Penn State Athletics were dropped from Lynch’s lawsuit because of a filing deadline technicality.

One of the medical staff’s meetings with Franklin and other team and athletic department officials occurred on a Friday night at the Penn Stater Hotel before a game. Seidenberg testified that Franklin wanted a significant starter to be cleared to play.

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“Coach was trying to get us to release the athlete for return to play,” the doctor testified. “We were being pressured to release the athlete. There was a discussion. Coach was trying to influence medical decisions.”

In the end, Seidenberg testified that he and Lynch resisted and the player was not cleared for the game.

Asked how Franklin reacted to this medical decision, Seidenberg testified: “He was angry. He was angry at our decision.”

In another instance when the team medical staff stood firm against Franklin over a player’s treatment, Seidenberg testified of the coach: “He got up from the conference table abruptly and went back behind his desk. The meeting was over.”

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Lynch’s attorney, Steven F. Marino, quipped that Franklin’s actions amounted to a “principal’s office moment.”

Seidenberg testified that he and Lynch would explain the various treatment options to injured players, leaving it to the players whether to opt for surgery or a more conservative approach involving therapy that could take longer if the treatment did not work.

In two such cases described from the witness stand, Seidenberg said Franklin favored surgery as the first option, calling meetings in both cases with Seidenberg and Lynch. The doctors abided by the players’ choices for the more “conservative” medical approaches.

Seidenberg testified that Franklin often questioned the number of players on the injury list for practice. Players limited by injury were clad in “baby blue” jerseys for those workouts.

“There was pressure to get people out of the baby blues and pressure to do it quickly,” Seidenberg testified.

To show that Lynch did not always go against Franklin, Seidenberg chronicled an incident in which a player broke a bone in his foot during the 2019 Citrus Bowl. Lynch explained the injury to the player, telling him that going back in the game would not further damage the foot. Lynch left it to the player, who opted to go back into the game.

Afterward, Franklin lauded the player to the entire team.

“Coach was very happy,” Seidenberg recalled. “The athlete was applauded for continuing to play hurt.”

“What was the message?” Marino asked his witness.

“Play hurt.”

“And that came from Coach Franklin?”

“Correct,” Seidenberg said.

Just in case players didn’t get the message, Franklin floated an idea to borrow a locker room sign from the rival Michigan program. The sign, introduced in court, read: “The unmotivated player, the out-of-shape player, the hurt player, and the bad player all look the same.”

Shocked by the message, Seidenberg testified that he sent an email to Lynch and the head trainer saying, “I am concerned that he felt the need to share this with us.”

Added Seidenberg on the stand: “This encourages hurt players to hide their injuries and not report them to the medical team.”

John Luciew, PennLive

 

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futureman

futureman 22547

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15 hours ago, Spider2YBanana said:

I dated a girl who is a Penn St alum and you're right, she would die on that hill. She really thinks Sandusky was set up. Not even kidding. 

God she was fine as fuck, but fucking crazy. Miss the sex, not the talking. If only she were a mute.

oh you did?  what did she look like?

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 105347

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On 5/21/2024 at 11:02 PM, Biff Tannen said:

Penn State and Baylor are two schools that should have been stripped of all major sports.  Fuck them both.

Yep.

Penn State should have been burned to the ground when the Sandusky/Paterno shit came out.  But they didn't care.  And they won't care now.  The PSU football coach could sacrifice a baby on the 50 yard line during a game, eat its still-beating heart, and the PSU faithful would find a way to look right past it.

Shitty program, shitty university, shitty state, shitty people.  It's all shit, all the way down.

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Vertigo

Vertigo 20332

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On 5/22/2024 at 5:34 PM, SurlyGator said:

I used to think there was something Butch Jones-esque about James Franklin.  Now I think there may be something James Franklin-escue about Butch Jones.  What a tool.

Hopefully this is enough for CDC to remove James Franklin out of his rolodex forever. Prior to Sark, I was terrified we were going to end up with James Franklin. 

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Steel Shank

Steel Shank 9432

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44 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

The PSU football coach could sacrifice a baby on the 50 yard line during a game, eat its still-beating heart, and the PSU faithful would find a way to look right past it.

It was a set up.

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Fudge Nuggets

Fudge Nuggets 19225

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22 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Yep.

Penn State should have been burned to the ground when the Sandusky/Paterno shit came out.  But they didn't care.  And they won't care now.  The PSU football coach could sacrifice a baby on the 50 yard line during a game, eat its still-beating heart, and the PSU faithful would find a way to look right past it.

Shitty program, shitty university, shitty state, shitty people.  It's all shit, all the way down.

It was a great day when the NCAA stripped Pedo State of JoePedo's wins and made Eddie Robinson once again the all-time winningest corch in NCAA history.  I had the fortune to meet Coach Rob several times while growing up in north Louisiana and he was a true gentleman and class act.  I respected the hell out of that man.

Then two weeks later (not really, but felt that way), the NCAA does a complete 180 and gives those W's back to Pedo State.  I honestly think my downward trajectory in CFB interest began with that move.

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BurntEyes

BurntEyes 6032

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On 5/21/2024 at 11:02 PM, Biff Tannen said:

Penn State and Baylor are two schools that should have been stripped of all major sports.  Fuck them both.

MSU should probably be included in the hall of shame. 

There is a lot of bad shit out there in college sports, but the A team of cultural evil is A1 PSU A2 Baylor B MSU

I'm in no way diminishing shit of other schools but the long term continued institutionalized crime organizations of these 3 really stand out to me.

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boilerhorn

boilerhorn 1399

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Patterson was hired in Nov 2013, and his short list to replace Brown included Shaw, Franklin, and Strong. 

Having to suffer and wander in the wilderness through the Strong and Herman years is actually better than having hired Franklin.  

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