Following Saturday night’s game against Wisconsin, Penn State football coach James Franklin apologized for not “representing this program the right way” in a press conference earlier in the week.
The press conference in question took place on Wednesday. At it, Franklin repeatedly walked away from questions about ongoing legal matters concerning two former Nittany Lion football players—Jameial Lyons and Kaveion Keys. Lyons and Keys have been charged with multiple sex crimes, including rape. Multiple Penn State officials repeatedly deferred to a statement from the university while Franklin said nothing on the matter.
Franklin addressed the media following Saturday night’s game, a win against Wisconsin. After discussing the game, Franklin finished his press conference by addressing what happened on Wednesday. He did clarify that, since it’s an ongoing legal matter, there’s not much more that can be said beyond the university’s statement. Despite that, he apologized for his role in how things transpired.
“I’d like to end this thing by covering Wednesday,” Franklin said (H/T Penn State Football on Blue White Illustrated, YouTube). “First thing I’d like to say is I want to apologize. I didn’t do a great job of handling Wednesday. Difficult, difficult, situation and I gotta own that I did not do a good job of that.
“I understand you guys got a job to do. You gotta ask those questions and I respect that. The university put out a statement. And the reality is, I think, there’s not a whole lot more I can say, other than that statement. It’s an ongoing legal situation and it’s challenging. It’s challenging on everybody.
“At the end of the day, I did not do a good job of handling that situation and representing this program the right way. So I wanted to take a minute and apologize for that. And understand you guys got a job to do. So I didn’t do a good job there. I’m trying to get better, like everybody else. In a difficult situation. And I think that is a big reason for all of this, right? It’s a difficult situation. A challenging situation. So, I apologize.”
(Franklin’s apology begins at the 10:40 mark).
Lyons and Keys were dismissed from the program before the season began. But the crimes they’re accused of are alleged to have taken place while they were still with the team.
[Photo/Video Credit: Penn State Football on Blue White Illustrated on YouTube]
