Former Arizona State football player Jason Franklin, center, was close to his parents, Jan and Gregg. Gregg is suing ASU and the NCAA, alleging that flawed concussion management protocols were a direct result of his son contracting CTE.
/Photo courtesy of the Franklin family
By Jordan Rogers | Cronkite News
Jason Franklin’s personality had taken a dramatic turn. The former Arizona State University linebacker, often described as upbeat and social by his friends and family, was withdrawn.
He “would get lost in long, blank stares. He was not sleeping well. He was having memory problems,” his mother, Jan Franklin, later wrote of that time. “He had no money and couldn’t remember how to get more money out of his bank account. He would go for long walks to try and calm his head.”
On July 14, 2018, seven years after Jason Franklin realized his dream to play in the Pac-12 – only to suffer four concussions as a practice squad player – he took his own life. He was 26.
Two years after his son’s death, his father, Gregg Franklin, has filed a lawsuit against Arizona State and the NCAA, alleging that flawed concussion management protocols were a direct result of his son contracting the degenerative brain disease called CTE, for chronic traumatic encephalopathy. The suit claims the organizations “recklessly ignored these facts and failed to implement reasonable concussion management protocols to protect its athletes, including Jason Franklin.”
