New Penn State allegations show the football program has learned nothing from the past

New allegations are looming over the Penn State football team, specifically head coach James Franklin and his involvement in the firing of former director of athletic medicine, Dr. Scott Lynch. Lynch is suing the school for wrongful dismissal, claiming that his job was terminated due to repeated clashes with Franklin for being unwilling to medically clear players before he and his staff believed they had recovered.

Testimony about Franklin’s meddling in the health of student athletes is significant, but Thursday gave way to another allegation from inside the program that is far more reprehensible than wanting athletes to return to the field before they were able to.

Dr. Pete Seidenberg, who was a primary care physician for the Penn State football team, gave an account under oath that a former player under his care had attempted suicide by trying to jump out of an open window. The player, whose name was not revealed, was stopped — and referred to doctors for mental health treatment, where he received short-term in-patient psychiatric care.

Seidenberg alleges that rather than being concerned for the player, or supporting his mental health, Franklin and former athletic director Sandy Barbour lobbied to have the player medically disqualified from the team. This would have resulted in the removal of the player’s athletic scholarship, so it could be reassigned to another player.

The doctor went on to testify that both he and Dr. Lynch refused to comply with the coach and AD’s request, comparing it to pulling a scholarship from a player with a torn ACL before they had a chance to recover. It’s one incident in a pattern of win-at-all-costs behavior that has come forth in the trial, showing that a lack of care for athletes is once again rearing its head at Penn State.

Pressuring doctors to clear players early is hardly a new revelation in the football sphere. It’s the primary reason the NFL moved to using independent medical staff to diagnose sideline concussions in 2011 — a protocol which is still under yearly revision and modification to ensure team pressure doesn’t play a role in athletes returning to the field before it’s safe to do so.

Preying on an athlete in the middle of a mental health crisis is something completely different. Taking someone who is already vulnerable and has attempted suicide, and deciding that it’s prudent to pull a scholarship — putting more pressure and potentially impacting their mental health further underscores how Franklin views players as little more than a commodity.

These new allegations are fundamentally different from the Jerry Sandusky child sex abuse scandal, but rooted in the same basic tenet: That the football team is more important than literally anything else.

Barbour, who became Penn State AD following the Sandusky scandal, retired from the school in 2022. Franklin is still the center of the football program, which has been highly successful under his tenure. Those wins mean nothing though if players, students, aren’t being cared for — and this ongoing trial has shown a continuing lack of care.

The NCAA and Big 10 are likely waiting for the legal process to play out, even considering this is a civil case. Neither entity has issued a statement at this time, but this could lead to new penalties against the team, especially if more allegations come to light as former medical staff members testify.

This is unacceptable and the school should be ashamed once more.