Penn State football head coach James Franklin is being accused of interfering with medical decisions that team doctors had to make, according to a report from The Philadelphia Inquirer. Dr. Pete Seidenburg was a team doctor for the Nittany Lions in the past while Franklin was the head coach, but he is no longer with the team. He recently testified about numerous different instances where Franklin tried to influence a medical decision.
One instance that Pete Seidenburg discussed involved a Penn State football player that tried to commit suicide. Fortunately, the player was stopped when he tried to jump out of a window, and after the incident, he began to receive psychiatric help. However, while he was being treated, James Franklin reportedly wanted the player medically disqualified. Seidenburg noted that this would be on the same level as disqualifying a player that just suffered an ACL injury. He did not follow through on Franklin's request as that would've meant that the player would've lost his scholarship.
Seidenburg also discussed numerous instances where Franklin would try to influence a decision in regard to whether or not a player would be cleared for a game. He tried to get the doctors to clear players even if they weren't really good to go.
“Coach was trying to get us to release the athlete for return to play,” The doctor said. “We were being pressured to release the athlete. There was a discussion. Coach was trying to influence medical decisions.”
When Seidenburg and other medical staff members did not clear the player, Franklin was apparently unhappy about the situation.
“He was angry,” Seidenburg said. “He was angry at our decision.”
There was one instance when the Penn State director of athletic medicine and orthopedic consultant to the football team, Scott Lynch, let a player choose whether or not they wanted to continue to play despite an injury. Lynch worked closely with Seidenburg, and he told the player about a bone that he had broken in his foot. He noted that playing through it wouldn't make it worse, and the player decided to go back into the game.
“Coach was very happy,” Seidenberg said. “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.
James Franklin reportedly encouraged players to play hurt
This was all concerning for Pete Seidenburg and Scott Lynch as they felt like James Franklin was not sending the right message to the players. The doctors obviously wanted players to report their injuries to them, but they felt like Franklin was swaying them to not report.
“This encourages hurt players to hide their injuries and not report them to the medical team,” Seidenburg said.
It'll be interesting to see if more stories from past players or doctors come out in the near future. This news regarding Franklin just surfaced this week, and there will be more news regarding the situation in the future as everything is still developing.
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