Photo by: Kevin Koski
John Franklin Shines in NFLPA Bowl, Helps National Team to 23-0 Shutout
1/20/2018 6:45:00 PM | Football
Lumberjack senior defensive end John Franklin records team-tying best seven total tackles for the National squad in rout
PASADENA, Calif. – Stephen F. Austin senior defensive end John Franklin shined at the seventh annual National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) Collegiate Bowl Saturday afternoon inside the historic Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. In front of many NFL scouts, general managers and personnel directors, Franklin greatly aided the National team to a seventh-straight NFPA Collegiate Bowl victory and a 23-0 rout of the American squad.
Playing for Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Martz, the Greenville, Texas, native posted a team-high tying seven total tackles for the National team, including a tackle for loss, and had a pass breakup and a quarterback hurry. Wearing the No. 94 jersey and representing SFA football in front of a national TV audience on Fox Sports 1, Franklin made his presence felt on the defensive line.
Franklin finished with five solo tackles, the second-most by any defensive player on the National team. His pass breakup came midway through the second quarter, while Franklin's quarterback hurry on TCU senior gunslinger Kenny Hill came in early in the third. The Lumberjack defensive lineman also made a two-yard tackle for loss on a rushing play with about nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter.
Over the past week, Franklin had been in California attending NFLPA University, a week-long program that provides important information to aid in the transition into professional football from college life. As the premier postseason all-star game for draft-eligible college football players, over 60% of past participants currently appear on NFL rosters.
After going 0-40 as a prep player at Greenville High School, Franklin has had a remarkable journey to becoming a three-time All-Southland Conference performer and a three-time Southland All-Academic honoree. An All-Southland Second Team pick this past fall, Franklin finished out his Lumberjack career as one of SFA's top performers on the defensive line all-time. He led the Lumberjacks' defensive front in his final season suiting up in the Purple and White, posting a team-best 13.5 tackles for loss for negative 46 yards, including dishing out 3.5 sacks for a loss of 24 yards. In league play, Franklin's 11.5 tackles for loss were fifth-most in the conference as he tied for sixth in tackles for loss per game (1.28). Ranked 42nd nationally in tackles for loss per game (1.2) for the entire season, Franklin finished with the fifth-most total tackles (55) on the team, including 27 solo stops.
Prior to the 2017 season, Franklin was tabbed as the 31st most important player in Texas by Dave Campbell's Texas Football. Franklin completed his Lumberjack career fifth on SFA's all-time career tackles for loss list with 37.5 over the past four seasons, while finishing ninth in program history in all-time career sacks (17.5).
With plethora of looks from NFL teams throughout the fall, the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl gave Franklin another strong opportunity to become the first NFL Draft pick for SFA since 2011. Former All-American linebacker Jabara Williams was taken 228th in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft, becoming the 32nd draft pick for the 'Jacks in program history.
Franklin is seeking to become the fifth Lumberjack to suit up for an NFL team during the Clint Conque era at SFA. He would join Gus Johnson (2014), Terran Vaughn 2015, Zach Conque (2016) and Justice Liggins (2016) as former 'Jacks who have made appearances on NFL rosters in recent years.
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