John Franklin III (born September 21, 1994) is an American 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

. 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

Florida State Seminoles The Florida State Seminoles are the athletic teams representing Florida State University (FSU) located in Tallahassee, Florida. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I, prima ...

Auburn Tigers The Auburn Tigers are the athletic teams representing Auburn University, a public four-year university located in Auburn, Alabama, United States. The Auburn Tigers compete in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) a ...

and Florida Atlantic Owls. He also played junior college football for the East Mississippi Lions, where he was featured prominently in the first season of '' Last Chance U''. He was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

College career

Before college, Franklin attended South Plantation High School in

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County, Florida, Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the ...

. Franklin redshirted the 2013 season while playing for the

. The Seminoles won the 2014 BCS National Championship Game against the

. He was the scout team quarterback mostly used to mirror what the Noles would deal with in Nick Marshall. Franklin saw limited action in 2014. He was a member of ACC champion 4×100 relay team at Florida State.

East Mississippi Community College

Franklin transferred to East Mississippi Community College after the 2014 season. With the Lions, Franklin served mostly as a backup quarterback to Wyatt Roberts, as they won the MACJC North title. He only started on one occasion, against the Copiah–Lincoln Wolves, but ended up being pulled in favor of Roberts. On October 22, 2015, Franklin scored five rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown against the Mississippi Delta Trojans, before the game was called off after a brawl broke out between both sides. The 2015 football season was documented in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' Last Chance U'' in 2016. On the year, Franklin went 64–110 (58.2%) while throwing for 733 yards along with a 7–2 touchdown to interception ratio. He also added 451 yards on the ground on only 43 attempts giving him an average of 10.5 yards per carry on his way to 9 rushing touchdowns.

Auburn

Franklin enrolled at

Auburn University Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama, United States. With more than 26,800 undergraduate students, over 6,100 post-graduate students, and a tota ...

for his junior year, where he appeared in 12 games, while making one start with the Tigers. In his 12 games, he went 14–26 (53.8%) while throwing for 204 yards along with one touchdown. On the ground, he added 430 yards on only 46 carries giving him an explosive average of 9.3 yards per carry, also adding two touchdowns. He grew increasingly unhappy with his role on the team and on March 8, 2017, ESPN reported he was moving to wide receiver for the 2017 season.

Florida Atlantic

On August 15, 2017, he transferred to

Florida Atlantic University Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. The university is a member of the State University System of Florida and has s ...

to play for the Florida Atlantic Owls under head coach

Lane Kiffin Lane Monte Kiffin (born May 9, 1975) is an American football coach who is the head coach at Ole Miss Rebels football, Ole Miss. Kiffin was the offensive coordinator at USC Trojans football, USC from 2005 to 2006, head coach of the National Foo ...

, as a graduate transfer. He had 16 rushes for 229 yards with an average of 14.3 yards per carry while rushing for two touchdowns. He also caught seven balls for 95 yards and one touchdown while averaging 13.6 yards a catch. He also went 1–2 (50%) for 49 yards. At FAU's

Pro Day The NFL draft, officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the most common source of player recruitment in the National Football League. Each team is given a position in the drafting order in reve ...

in March 2018, Franklin was timed as running a 4.40 second 40-yard dash.

College statistics

Professional career

Chicago Bears

After going undrafted in the

2018 NFL draft The 2018 NFL draft was the 83rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2018 NFL season. The draft was held on April 26–28 at AT&T Stadium in Arlington southwest of Dallas; it was ...

, Franklin attended the

rookie mini camp on a tryout basis as a defensive back. On May 14, 2018, Franklin was signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent. On September 1, he was waived by the Bears. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 27, but was released later that day. Two months later, on November 24, he returned to Chicago's practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 8, 2019. He was waived on August 31. In October 2019, Franklin was selected by the Dallas Renegades in the 2020 XFL draft, but did not sign with the league.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On November 13, 2019, Franklin was signed to the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 24, where he was listed as a wide receiver. Franklin was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on August 23, 2020, after suffering a leg injury during training camp. On February 7, 2021, he won a

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

with the Buccaneers, even though he did not play a single snap for the entire season. He was waived on August 17. On December 2, while still a free agent, he was suspended three games by the NFL for "misrepresenting isCOVID-19 vaccination status".

Tampa Bay Bandits

Franklin was drafted by the

Tampa Bay Bandits The Tampa Bay Bandits were a professional American football team in the United States Football League (USFL) which was based in Tampa, Florida. The Bandits were a charter member of the USFL and was the only franchise to have the same principal ...

in the 17th round of the

2022 USFL draft The 2022 USFL draft, also known as the 2022 USFL player selection meeting, was the player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams for the 2022 USFL season. The draft was held on February 22–23, 2022, with results released thro ...

. He was transferred to the team's practice squad on April 16, 2022, and back to the active roster two days later.

Memphis Showboats

Franklin and all other Tampa Bay Bandits players were all transferred to the

Memphis Showboats The Memphis Showboats were an American football franchise in the United States Football League. They entered the league in its expansion in 1984 and made the 1985 playoffs, losing in the semifinal round to the Oakland Invaders. Perhaps the ...

after it was announced that the Bandits were taking a hiatus and that the Showboats were joining the league. He was placed on the team's injured reserve list on April 27, 2023. He was not part of the roster after the 2024 UFL dispersal draft on January 15, 2024.

Edmonton Elks

On February 21, 2024, Franklin signed with the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). Coincidentally, Frankin became teammates with quarterback Malik Henry, who appeared in the third and fourth seasons of '' Last Chance U''. He was released on June 3.

Personal life

Franklin is married to his wife Frankie Taylor, with whom he has a son.

References

External links

Edmonton Elks bio

ESPN College stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, John 03 1994 births Living people Players of American football from Broward County, Florida American football quarterbacks American football cornerbacks Franklin, John III Florida State Seminoles men's track and field athletes Florida State Seminoles football players East Mississippi Lions football players Edmonton Elks players Auburn Tigers football players Florida Atlantic Owls football players Chicago Bears players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Tampa Bay Bandits (2022) players Memphis Showboats (2022) players