For those who haven’t visited the Washington D.C. area since eighth grade, it may be tough to fully comprehend how impossible it is to drive the Capital Beltway.
The bridges are too narrow, the roads are too limited and the every possible exit spits you out at either a tourist trap or government office. It’s a mess before you even consider that the District’s population increases 79 percent every work day due to commuters or the fact a motorcade may shut down the roads at any point.
Which makes what Penn State coach James Franklin did on Thursday absolutely astounding. He somehow navigated the beltway in barely an hour to be at respective draft parties for Olu Fashanu and Chop Robinson in time to see each Penn State player get drafted in person.
Fashanu, who went No. 11 overall to the New York Jets, lives in Waldorf Maryland. Robinson, the No. 21 pick of the Miami Dolphins, is from Gaithersburg. The two towns are 57 miles apart and separated by one of the most heavily trafficked areas in the country.
Franklin making it to both parties in less time than it takes to watch the first half of a Nittany Lions game might just be the biggest accomplishment of his career.
When you have two first-rounders that live an hour apart… you make it happen.
Made it just in time. 😂 @CoachJFranklin pic.twitter.com/ALHKJSuwip
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) April 26, 2024
Regardless of the fact Franklin was doing this well after rush hour, the area is known locally for handing out speeding tickets to anyone who even thinks about going a mile over the limit. It simply doesn’t make sense how he did this.
Did Franklin take I-495 through Northern Virginia? Did he opt to pay the tolls and stay in Maryland for the whole drive? Does Penn State have a helicopter he was able to use for the night?
These are the only questions that matter and, for the good of everyone who has to drive the beltway, we deserve an answer.
