James Franklin: Keegan-Michael Key and I are different people

Sam Cooper
·College football writer
(via ESPN)
(via ESPN)

At the end of his postgame press conference after a last-second win over Iowa Saturday night, Penn State coach James Franklin wanted to clarify something.

That was not him on ESPN earlier in the day. It was comedian Keegan-Michael Key. As you can see, the two do look very similar.

“That was not me. It’s somewhat ridiculous that I have to say that,” Franklin said. “We do look a lot alike. That was a comedian who’s a Penn State grad who’s an awesome guy. But just so we’re clear, that was not me.”

You see, last week New York radio host Mike Francesa went off on Franklin for calling a timeout as Georgia State attempted a field goal in the final minute of its game at PSU with the Nittany Lions leading 56-0. Francesa was apoplectic that Franklin would try to ice the kicker with that big of a lead. Franklin said he wasn’t icing the kicker, but wanted to make sure he had the right personnel on the field and that his team would always compete on every single snap.

Key, a Penn State alum, went on ESPN’s College Gameday in New York City on Saturday, and gave his spot-on impression of Franklin. Franklin said he received “about 100 nasty messages from people who thought that was me.”

“I got a little bit carried away,” Key said as Franklin. “At that point in the game, I had two clarinet players from the band in there. I had a security guard, the equipment manager and the Nittany Lion mascot were all in there. He’s never blocked a kick before.”

The impression is nothing new. Key went to Penn State a few years back and pretended to be Franklin at the beginning of a team meeting. The team loved it.

Key even knows all of Franklin’s mannerisms. Too funny.

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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!