Johnathan A. Franklin (born October 23, 1989) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

for one season with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Big Ten Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF ...

, earning first-team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors while setting a school record for career yards rushing. Franklin was selected by the Packers in the fourth round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. After suffering a serious neck injury in his rookie season with Green Bay, he announced his retirement from the NFL in 2014.

Early life

Franklin graduated from

Susan Miller Dorsey High School Susan Miller Dorsey High School, commonly referred to as Dorsey High School, is a Secondary school, secondary State school#United States, public school located in the Baldwin Hills, Los Angeles, Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles, California. It is ...

of the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...

. As a high school football player, Franklin was named first-team all-city as a running back and was a third-team selection as a cornerback. He was also named Coliseum League Player of the Year. In addition to football, he also ran

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. He ran a personal best time of 11.01 seconds in the

100 meters The 100 metres, or 100-meter dash, is a sprint race in track and field competitions. The shortest common outdoor running distance, the dash is one of the most popular and prestigious events in the sport of athletics. It has been contested at ...

. He was also a cast member of the reality television series Baldwin Hills.

College career

Franklin received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, where he played for the

UCLA Bruins football The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in college football as members of the Big Ten Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Bruins play their home games off ...

team from 2009 to 2012. During the 2010 season, Franklin had a career-high of 30 carries for 216 yards in a game against Washington State. He scored three touchdowns against Houston. Franklin averaged 5.4 yards per carry for a total 1127 yards 8 touchdowns during 2010. His longest rushing attempt was 55 yards. Franklin had 976 yards on the ground and 74 receiving yards in the Bruins' Pac-12 South Division Championship year. In the 2012 season opener against

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, Franklin ran for 214 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns. He was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on September 3, 2012. At the team's home opener win over No. 16 ranked

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, Franklin rushed for 217 yards for an average of 8.3 yards per carry, which placed him at 7th place of the UCLA rushing record list. He was named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week again and was the nation's leading rusher with an average of 215.5 yards per game. On November 3, 2012, he surpassed

Gaston Green Gaston Alfred Green III (born August 1, 1966) is an American former professional football player. He was a running back in the National Football League (NFL) for the Los Angeles Rams, Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Raiders. He also played colle ...

's 3,731-yard career record at UCLA in a 66-10 victory against Arizona at the Rose Bowl on Homecoming Day. It was broken when he ran for 37 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Franklin was voted second best running back in the nation in the

Doak Walker Award The Doak Walker Award honors the top running back in college football in the United States. Established in 1990, it is named in honor of Doak Walker, a former running back who played for the SMU Mustangs from 1945 to 1949 and in the National Foot ...

, finishing just behind Montee Ball of

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. During the 2012 season, Franklin played in 13 games and rushed 268 times for 1,734 yards for 13 touchdowns, averaging 133.4 yards per game. His longest run was 78 yards and he had 2058 all purpose yards for an average of 158.3 yards per game, enough to lead the Bruins to the Pac-12 South Division Championship. He finished his UCLA career with 4,403 yards rushing.

Statistics

Professional career

Franklin was selected by the

in the fourth round, with the 125th overall pick, of the

. In the Week 3 loss against the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

, Franklin rushed for 103 yards and scored a touchdown, but had a fumble that was returned for the game-winning touchdown. He suffered a severe neck injury in the Week 12 game against the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. He was put on injured reserve on November 27, 2013. On June 19, 2014, Packers Head coach,

Mike McCarthy Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach who most recently was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL) from 2020 Dallas Cowboys season, 2020 t ...

announced that Franklin would not return with the Packers for the 2014 season. That same day Franklin announced his retirement from football. Doctors told him that one hit could paralyze him from the neck down. The Packers officially released him the following day. In his only season in the NFL, Franklin played a total of eleven games.

Post-playing career

After Franklin announced his retirement from professional football, he began an internship in the front offices of the Packer organization. He then worked within sales and business development, as well as community outreach and the media department. “I love this game of football. It hurts and it bothers me, but I know God has something better for me,” Franklin has said about transitioning from a football player to a businessman. In December 2014, Franklin was hired by the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

as an administrator for student welfare and development. He developed community outreach programs and workshops for the school's student-athletes. Franklin also led the student-athlete Bible study. Since 2017, Franklin has worked for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

in Community and External Relations.

References

External links

UCLA Bruins bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Johnathan 1989 births Living people American football running backs UCLA Bruins football players Green Bay Packers players Players of American football from Los Angeles Susan Miller Dorsey High School alumni