James Franklin says he'll stay away from family during 2020 season to protect them from COVID-19
As players and coaches return to campuses across the country, some tough decisions will have to be made regarding COVID-19 risks.
This week, Penn State coach James Franklin (who was the former Vanderbilt coach) revealed that he’d made a very difficult decision to stay away from his family until the season is over.
Speaking on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, Franklin said he’d be the only one in his family going back to Happy Valley in order to protect his daughter who has sickle cell disease (via The Comeback):
“I have two daughters,” Franklin said. “My one youngest daughter has sickle cell disease so it’s changed dynamics in our family. My wife and kids are going to stay in Florida for the season. And I’m going to be in Happy Valley just because we think that’s the right thing to do for my daughter with sickle cell.”
Franklin confirmed with Gumbel that it means he’ll be away from his family for the rest of the year. Franklin said, “There was a lot of tears. There was a lot of emotion having this conversation with my daughters. So a lot of heartache over it.”
Florida is a COVID-19 hotspot at the moment, but if Franklin’s family is following distancing guidelines, they’ll probably be fine. Meanwhile, Franklin is going to have to interact with players and assistants all season, so it seems he feels this is the safest course of action for his family.
i couldn’t do that. hopefully he’ll be able to see his family at some point.
Share the plan for keeping them isolated from a virus, like lots of viruses, that can be on objects and in the air. H1N1 is a decade old and it’s still spreading around but the prayer is we first learn to treat all Corona’s 100% successfully and then we are immune, even with blood disorders, …. then eventually we get a vaccine for all the Corona Viruses (especially MEHRS).
Just look at all our lives, we are going into “essential places” where everyone else goes. Those places have the virus, you can count on it. Use all the techniques of safety for sure. I wonder, if there is a technique, or test that let’s dads see their “daughters at risk”. Is there a C-19 virus expert out there reading that also knows SCA or T-sema, well enough to advise James Franklin further?