If Troy Franklin’s Rise Surprised You, You Haven’t Been Paying Attention

Anyone who’s watched the newest member of the Broncos isn’t surprised he’s been drafted.

I still remember the first game of Troy Franklin’s high school career.

It was the first time I saw a freshman play varsity football, and the only time I saw him make a mistake in his career.

When I printed out the rosters before heading to Menlo-Atherton’s season-opening game against Bellarmine on Aug. 25, 2017, I noticed a freshman wide receiver among the names.

Hmm, a freshman. On a varsity roster at a school with a freshman team and no shortage of players in the program. He must be pretty good.

He wasn’t noticeably bigger or stronger than any of the other kids. But there was just something different once the ball was in his hands.

During the third quarter of that game, he took a Miles Conrad pass 47 yards, then fumbled it at the 10-yard line. Teammate Joey Olshausen fell on it in the end zone for a touchdown. It was both an indication of his talent and that he still had some developing to do.

That development didn’t take long. I saw him play another eight games in high school, and I can’t think of a single fumble or drop.

My favorite of those eight games was easily the Northern California Championship that his Bears played against Eureka on Dec. 7, 2018. Playing on a natural field in conditions that hovered somewhere between fog, mist and rain, he was the only player to finish the game without grass and mud on his jersey.

Franklin touched the ball four times. He reached the end zone on three of those touches, including a 70-yard run when the Bears, in desperate need of a big play, put him in the backfield to take a handoff instead of lining him up out wide. He was run out of bounds on his only touch of the night that didn’t finish with a score.

A week earlier, he was the star of M-A’s 21-point comeback to beat Wilcox for the CCS Open Division I Championship. He had one reception and one carry. Both went for touchdowns.

I wasn’t at that game. I chose to attend the Pac-12 Championship, where Washington won a 10-3 slog over Utah. But a quote from that night still sticks out to me.

“It’s exactly how we drew it up,” M-A coach Adhir Ravipati told Darren Sabedra of the San Jose Mercury News. “Toss to Troy, miss three blocks, have him cutback, juke a kid and then break a tackle and cut back into the end zone.”

The video from Cal-Hi Sports matches the description.

Cut to November 15, 2019. The Bears are hosting Wilcox in a CCS first round matchup, with the winner likely heading to top-seeded Serra a week later. After Aragon forfeited two weeks earlier to the Bears, citing player safety in a much-maligned move, M-A held a rescheduled Senior Night ceremony hours before the game, the best they could do in accordance with CCS regulations.

If Franklin, a junior at the time, was frustrated that his seniors weren’t properly hailed, he let it out in one play.

Following a touchback on the opening kickoff, Matt McLeod (now at Miami-Ohio) unleashed a deep ball that Franklin took down the left sideline for an 80-yard score. He held his arms aloft for the final 25 yards before turning to the camera as he reached the end zone. The transformation from budding prospect to star was complete.

Trailing 35-28 with three minutes left in regulation, the Bears faced fourth-and-goal at the 8 after a false start penalty. There was no question who the ball was going to. Sure enough, he rose for the catch in double coverage.

“When I went to a camp in Washington, they taught me a pretty good technique. It’s all about F.S.D., frisbee-snatching dog,” he said of the eight-yard score. “Jump, hands, eyes and then snatch, bring it down. If you’re prepared for that, you can do anything.”

It turned out to be the final catch of his high school career. Wilcox scored on the opening possession of overtime, and when M-A had four plays to tie it, two were ineffective runs and the other two were incomplete passes.

Fans were never treated to his senior year. When COVID delayed the season, he committed to Oregon and enrolled early. The decision clearly worked out for him, but fans were deprived of a chance to see him as part of a star-studded team that also featured the likes of Jalen Moss and Jeremiah Earby. Moss, two years Franklin’s junior, had become his prodigy of sorts.

“Man, that’s my little guy,” Franklin said after that 2019 loss to Wilcox, in which Moss scored a 51-yard touchdown to close the first half. “Ever since he got his turn to step up, he’s done nothing but make the best out of all his opportunities.”

Moss is now at Fresno State, while Earby transferred from Cal to Boise State. He’ll see time in the secondary alongside another former Bear, A’Marion McCoy.

Perhaps they’ll share a sideline or line up against each other in the NFL. Considering East Palo Alto’s penchant for producing NFL talent, it wouldn’t be surprising. This is, of course, the same town that raised Davante Adams, KeeSean Johnson and Mekhi Blackmon, a cornerback who graduated from M-A in 2017 and now plays for the Minnesota Vikings. Jordan Mims, another 2017 M-A grad, dazzled as a running back at Fresno State and now plays for the New Orleans Saints. The Broncos and Saints will meet this season in New Orleans.

If you told me after that first game in 2017 that Franklin was going to the NFL, I wouldn’t have been entirely surprised. With injuries, physical maturation and all sorts of other things that can befall a young man, there was no guaranteeing that he’d have his name called come 2024. I’m not one to make bold predictions, so I wouldn’t have instantly declared him as a future NFL star after one high school game. But I knew he’d be a big-time recruit and college player, and he was. He chose Oregon amidst offers from almost the entire rest of the Pac-12 and national powerhouses like LSU and Oklahoma.

There’s no telling what Franklin’s professional career will hold. But I’m glad I’ll be watching.

Denver, you got yourselves a special one.