James Franklin Says He's 'Asking and Pleading' Fans to Get Vaccinated

The Penn State coach said vaccinations will help the program fill Beaver Stadium for home football games this fall.

Penn State coach James Franklin urged fans once again to consider getting vaccinated as the program hopes to welcome back a full stadium for the 2021 season.

At the program's media day Saturday, Franklin said he was "asking and pleading" for fans to get COVID-19 vaccinations, which he called important to helping to refill Beaver Stadium this fall and to revive the economic engine of State College and Centre County.

"All of us kind of making some choices and sacrificing together is going to give us the best opportunity to fill that stadium up to have a home-field advantage and be able to bring significant impact to our community and our state," Franklin said.

Penn State in June announced plans to return to full capacity for sporting events this fall. The program is selling tickets at a brisk pace, with student buying their allotments in a matter of minutes. Single-game tickets nearly are sold out for home games against Auburn and Michigan.

Penn State is not requiring students and staff to be vaccinated for the upcoming fall semester. The university recently imposed mask requirements in campus buildings "due to rapidly evolving COVID-19 conditions around the country and in Pennsylvania." Students and employees who have not reported being fully vaccinated by Aug. 9 must undergo required testing this fall, the university said.

Franklin, who has spoken often about his family's need to protect a daughter who has Sickle cell disease, said he was not making a political statement about vaccinations, though "it's become a political issue." At Big Ten media days in late July, Franklin said that more than 70 percent of his team was vaccinated. Franklin is pushing for a 100-percent vaccination rate.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, 58.4 percent of Pennsylvania residents have received at least one vaccine dose.

Franklin said he hoped fans would consider getting vaccinated to be a necessary "sacrifice" to attend games in-person again.

"I think we all have to make some sacrifices, right?" Franklin said. "Our fourth core value [in the program] is sacrifice, and that means we all have to give a little something up to do that. ... And to be honest with you, I would love for our students and the people in Happy Valley and my players to be able to experience it because last year was not a true Penn State experience. So, I am asking and pleading for everybody to do everything they possibly can to give us the best chance to get back to what we would probably describe normal."

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