During another dismal losing season for UCLA football in 2010, there was one bright spot. Amid the blowout losses, suspensions and criticism, Johnathan Franklin was the model of consistency.
Unfortunately for opposing defenses, Franklin is back for another year after becoming the first 1,000-yard rushed at UCLA since 2006. Franklin ““ now entering his redshirt junior season ““ is a lock to do it again. His name stays at No. 1 on the running back depth chart as NFL scouts wander around practices salivating at his elusive running style. He’s such a valuable commodity to Neuheisel’s Bruins that he didn’t even touch the ball in the annual fall scrimmage for fear of injury.
It might come as shocking news to fans to hear that Franklin only considers football to be 30 percent of who he is.
“I’m a man of God, I’m a role model in my community,” said Franklin, who also has aspirations of being a politician some day. “I never want to be remembered as just Johnathan Franklin, the running back who rushed for 1,000 yards. I don’t feel my life will be complete until I impact other lives.”
Whether he likes it or not, Franklin is known for his talents on the football field right now. He uses the recognition he’s gained as a platform to lead his teammates by example.
Part of that example is Franklin’s strong religious conviction. He’s an active member of Athletes in Action, a Christ-based association of athletes, and he leads the team prayer after each practice.
He’s always there to extend an open Bible study invitation to his teammates, but he’s never pushy about it. He also reads Bible verses aloud in the locker room before games to those who will listen.
“I’m not Christian, but I’ll listen to what he says,” said junior wide receiver Randall Carroll, who happens to be Franklin’s cousin. “He always helps me when he reads scriptures.”
“Everybody has their faith and what they choose to say about their faith is an individual choice,” Neuheisel added. “But I believe that Johnathan practices what he preaches.”
Not only is he billed as a team leader and rock of the offensive backfield, his teammates refer to him as one of the most humble players around. Hearing him talk about his place on the team is evidence of that attitude. He’s fearful of losing his starting job despite the unquestioned trust of the coaching staff.
“It’s in the Bible to be humble, so I’m just living how I’m supposed to live,” Franklin said. “It’s not how I was brought up, it’s not because I play football, that’s in the rule book.”
Franklin wasn’t always doing TV interviews during the week and breaking tackles on the weekends, though. He grew up in “The Jungle,” a less than affluent neighborhood near Baldwin Hills.
His mother raised Franklin and his sister as a single parent. He didn’t develop a relationship with his father until his senior year at Dorsey High School. Franklin found football at a young age, getting him off the streets and onto college campuses for recruiting visits as a senior. He calls the football field his “kingdom,” a place where he can come to leave all of his personal problems on the sidelines.
“All of my friends were either getting shot, drug dealing, going to jail or dead,” Franklin said of his upbringing. “I just wanted to change that. I wanted to be that role model. I wanted to show my friends that they don’t have to gangbang their whole life, that they don’t have to hustle their whole life.”
“That role model” is now poised to have another productive season thriving in UCLA’s power running attack. He’s a member of the Bruins’ team council, a group of team leaders voted on by their teammates, and Neuheisel said he’s become more of a vocal leader during fall camp.
It may have started a season ago when Franklin corralled the rest of his teammates out of the locker room and into the weight room the day after a 35-0 loss to Stanford.
“His leadership is charming to me as a teammate,” Carroll said. “He makes everybody want to work harder around him regardless of what he’s doing.”
While his impact on the political world might have to wait until his football career is over, his impact on opposing defenses is just beginning. Ever the team player, Franklin is all about the bottom line.
“Junior year is a big year for me,” he said. “But at the end of the day, no matter how many yards I get, it’s about if we won or lost.”