James Franklin put sportsmanship first and yelled at a player who was leaving the field without shaking hands.
Penn State has good reason to be upset. Just six quarters ago, the Nittany Lions were undefeated and soundly beating Ohio State on the road. A berth in the College Football Playoff seemed distinctly possible.
But college football comes at you fast. Ohio State came back to get the win, and Penn State lost its second straight (and its Playoff hopes) on a last-second field goal to Michigan State.
Still, Penn State coach James Franklin will not let his players' on-field disappointment affect sportsmanship. After the loss, Franklin noticed a player, who appears to be linebacker Koa Farmer, leaving the field without shaking hands. He sprinted over to the player and yelled at him before the player returned to the field, ostensibly to shake hands with Michigan State players.
Was trying to figure out what exactly had made James Franklin so mad. Pretty sure it was one of his players not shaking hands. pic.twitter.com/S1rchACslm
— Chantel Jennings (@ChantelJennings) November 4, 2017
“But make sure everybody’s clear, and don’t misinterpret this at the end of the game that I was running off the field, I would never do that,” Franklin said after the game. “I saw a few of our players running off the field, not going to shake hands, and we’re going to win with class and we are going to lose with class, and we are going to shake people’s hands and give them credit because they deserved it.”
Sportsmanship is alive!
