James Franklin upset after players wear Jonathan Sutherland T-shirts without permission
Penn State coach James Franklin was not happy after players wore shirts supporting teammate Jonathan Sutherland during pregame warmups without permission or discussion.
Sutherland was thrown into the spotlight after a Penn State supporter wrote a letter criticizing his dreadlocks, which resulted in an impassioned defense from Franklin and the program as a whole. Ahead of Saturday’s game against Iowa, Nittany Lions players were seen warming up in T-shirts that read “Chains, Tattoos, Dreads, & WE ARE.”
UPDATE: Penn State confiscated the shirts during warmups, citing a NCAA compliance that players "are expected to wear team-issued apparel on game day"https://t.co/ZXWs7FNMaq
— The Daily Collegian (@DailyCollegian) October 13, 2019
These shirts were confiscated by Penn State personnel during the game, according to ESPN’s Holly Rowe, and Franklin was upset that players had not received clearance to wear them first. Rowe also said that Franklin felt the T-shirts were unnecessary as the issue had already been addressed.
In a statement, the university said that the shirts were confiscated “out of an abundance of caution for NCAA compliance.”
“While we are supportive of our students expressing themselves in a thoughtful manner, they are expected to wear team-issued apparel on game day,” the statement said. “We asked our students to remove the shirts out of an abundance of caution for NCAA compliance.”
Franklin has to walk a tightrope here. While he may have felt the issue was settled, perhaps the players didn’t. He won’t want to look like he’s censoring a message that he supports just because permission wasn’t granted in advance.
