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Report: Ex-Penn State player claims James Franklin advised him not to report fight to police
By Paul Harvey
Published:
James Franklin has had a rough year on the field, and a recent report from ESPN may have the coach in a little bit of hot water off of it.
According to a report by ESPN’s John Barr, ex-Nittany Lions defensive back Isaiah Humphries claimed that Franklin advised him not to talk to police following a physical altercation with a star linebacker in 2018. That altercation involved Micah Parsons who has opted out of the 2020 season to pursue the 2021 NFL Draft.
The altercation between Humphris and Parsons allegedly involved punching, choking, and a knife being pulled. Humphries claims that following the fight, he met with Franklin in Franklin’s car, which is when the head coach advised him not to talk to the police:
Humphries told investigators that, after his fight with linebacker Micah Parsons in March 2018, he met with Franklin in the coach’s car outside the Lasch football building, according to the report. The investigator wrote: “Mr. Humphries added that Coach Franklin came and said, ‘Don’t talk to the police because Micah is his start [sic] player and makes money, so if he gets in trouble, he’s gone,’ meaning Mr. Humphries would be gone.”
Humphries has since transferred to Cal and alleges that he was sexually harassed by Parsons, DL Damion Barber, and DL Yetur Gross-Matos.
Franklin has denied the claims that he advised Humphries not to talk to authorities while Gross-Matos and Barber have denied the allegations of harassment according to school documents. School documents claim that Parsons reviewed the draft of the report in August of 2019. The linebacker did not respond to ESPN for comments.
This will definitely be something to keep an eye on as Franklin deals with the turmoil of a rough year on the field and is now dealing with allegations off of it. The Nittany Lions will take on Iowa Saturday.
Paul is a lifelong fan and student of all things college football. He has been covering college football since 2017 and the B1G since 2018.