From Applebee’s to Outback, Panthers safety saved every penny for a chance at the NFL
Tammy Futch, Sam Franklin’s mother, and Marlow Mike, his godmother, each need a moment when asked what it’s like to see their son and godson playing in the NFL.
The emotion can be heard in their voices. They speak carefully, and when they do, they sound proud. Because they, more than anyone, know what it took for Franklin, an undrafted rookie safety for the Carolina Panthers, to get to this point.
“He’s been telling us this for a long time that this is what he’s going to do,” Futch said.
Franklin will make his second start of the season Thursday night when the Panthers (3-4) play the Falcons (1-6). Franklin, who the Panthers picked up after the 2020 NFL draft, is starting for safety Juston Burris, who continues to miss time with a rib injury he suffered in Week 6.
Franklin recorded two tackles in his first start at strong safety and played in 100% of the Panthers snaps Sunday in a loss to the Saints.
“He stood out on the tape at times,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said. “Running to the ball, flashing, tackling their backs. I thought he played a very good game, did a lot of great things. I think it’s just the beginning for him. He’s got the right skill set and the right mentality.”
For Franklin, an undrafted rookie out of Temple, starting and even playing in the NFL is a dream come true — a dream that almost didn’t happen. Franklin has dyslexia, fell behind in school, and didn’t qualify academically for Temple initially.
He eventually found a path with the help of family, friends, coaches and his hometown community.
“To get to this point it took a lot of faith,” Franklin said, alluding to his journey. “A lot of times in my life and in football, I just could have gave up and just went on and tried something new.”
But he didn’t.
$10,000 in tuition
Tammy Futch said her son was 7 when he first expressed interest in playing football professionally. They were watching an NFL game on their floor-model big-screen TV, when a young Sam pointed at the screen and without notice announced, “I’m going to be on that TV.”
His mother was caught off guard.
“Sam was very active, so when he said he was going to be on that TV, I said, ‘Boy you bet not get on my TV!” his mother recalled. “He was like, ‘No, no. I’m going to do that ... football.’ ”
“Ever since then, I said if that’s what you want to do, that means we’ve got to get you in football and get you started.”
He started playing football when he was 8. His youth coaches recognized that Sam was more athletic than his peers and he could do things others could not, his mother said. He was good at baseball and basketball, too, but he loved football the most.
He attended Citrus High School in Inverness, Florida, a city of about 7,400 people, where everyone knows everyone. He starred on the high school football team where he played wide receiver, safety and linebacker. Franklin’s dream never wavered.
When he was in 11th grade, Marlow Mike, his godmother, who Franklin has lived with since he started high school, said she asked Franklin and her son to write down five colleges they were interested in attending and their potential majors. Franklin told his godmother that while he planned to go to college, he also assured her that he was going to play in the NFL.
While football was never an issue for Franklin, academics were.
He suffered from dyslexia, a learning disorder that affects areas of the brain that process language. Because of that, he struggled in school and did not have the grades to qualify to play Division I football.
A coach, who was recruiting Franklin to UMass, sat the family down and told them that though he did not qualify, there was a Plan B, Mike recalled. The coach recommended Franklin go to East Coast Prep, a post graduate program for football players in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, to improve his grades and test scores.
However, there was one caveat.
The program would cost the family $10,000, and they had less than three months to come up with it.
‘Came too far’
Franklin did everything he could to raise the money. He called his mother’s manager at Applebee’s and asked if he could apply to wash the dishes. The manager agreed. He also got a job at Outback Steakhouse for a few weeks doing the same thing. Every paycheck he received, he’d save the money.
A family friend needed help with yard work on his 15-acre property. Franklin did that. The same friend needed help moving a family member into a college dorm at Tennessee. So Franklin traveled to Tennessee to help the friend move in. His mother also saved up money for her son’s tuition.
But a few days before the deadline approached, the family was a couple thousand dollars short of what they needed.
Franklin recalls being in his bedroom crying, unsure of whether he’d be able to play football again.
“I’m sitting there looking to my mom, saying I don’t know how we’re going to do this,” Franklin told The Observer. “I was breaking down crying. This really might be the last time I might ever play football again, and that really hit me.”
His mother lifted his head and looked him in his eye.
“We came too far for you to give up now,” she said. “God didn’t bring you this far to leave you here.”
Franklin said that moment resonated with him and he uses that as motivation whenever he feels down. It was in that moment that he decided not to give up. But they still needed the money.
Mike, his godmother, called a family friend and asked for a favor. They wanted to host a fundraiser for Franklin and needed someone to grill the food.
They posted a flier on Facebook to let the community know about the fundraiser. The friend agreed. And within two hours of posting about the fundraising event, the residents of Inverness came through. Other friends who did not buy food donated money, and they eventually raised enough money to pay for Franklin’s tuition at East Coast Prep.
“It was an awesome feeling, and to see his face that he still has a chance to go D-I — because that’s been a dream — play D-I and then go to the NFL,” Mike said. “I always tell him and all my kids, You were born to be great. It’s up to you what you do with yourself.’ He believed that, because I said it to him all the time.”
Soon after raising the money, Franklin packed his belongings and stuffed them into the back of his family’s black Dodge Caravan. Franklin, his godmother, godfather and mother drove 23 hours, stopping only for gas and food, from Inverness to Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where East Coast Prep is located.
At East Coast Prep, he played with fellow rookie Myles Hartsfield. Greg Vreeland, one of Franklin’s former coaches at East Coast Prep, said he noticed Franklin’s determination as soon as he arrived. Franklin played wide receiver and linebacker, and Vreeland said in one of the first games Franklin played, he ran a slant route, caught the pass, broke three tackles and took it 92 yards for a touchdown.
“It was incredible, but that was kind of a metaphor for his whole time here,” Vreeland said. “He wasn’t going to be stopped, and he was going to get there, regardless of what obstacle was in his way.”
That was Franklin’s mindset every day until he got his offer letter from Temple, Vreeland said.
After East Coast Prep, Franklin signed with Temple and played four seasons as a linebacker for the Owls, including one season under Rhule and defensive coordinator Phil Snow.
Franklin said he often thinks about that summer of raising money, the 23-hour road trip, and the conversations he had with his mother and godmother. They continue to push him today.
Staying level-headed with the Panthers
To the kids back home in Inverness, Franklin is a role model. They remember him as a person who had his own personal struggles but overcame them, said Citrus High School football coach McKinley Franklin, who is also Sam’s second cousin.
The coach says he said he often brings up Sam’s story to his athletes whenever he needs to encourage his players.
“A lot of people say, ‘You can’t make it out of Citrus County,’ and he’s a prime example of an athlete that has made it out of Citrus County,” McKinley Franklin said. “A lot of kids get discouraged because they think you have to go to Division I college. Sam went to a Division I college, but he didn’t have a whole bunch of people hootin’ and hollerin’ for him. Sam did all his hootin’ and hollerin.’ No one had to do it for him.”
Before starting in his first game Sunday, Franklin said he was doing everything he could to gather tips from his teammates, including the injured Burris and safety Tre Boston.
“He’s very smart, one of the young guys who is great when it comes to notes,” Boston said of Franklin. “Doesn’t mind staying late, watching film with you. Wants to know more.”
Franklin said he felt comfortable with the defense and knows what he’s supposed to do on each play. He said he just needed to play with confidence.
“Confidence is the biggest thing because nobody cares that I’m a rookie,” Franklin said. “The other team doesn’t care that I’m a rookie. People on my team don’t care that I’m a rookie. They just want to get this win. “
As an undrafted rookie, Franklin isn’t supposed to be in this position. When the Panthers picked him up, they expected him to be a practice squad player who could potentially contribute on special teams.
Franklin didn’t care what his role was. He was going to do whatever he could to make the team.
And here he is, starting for the Panthers, eight games into the 2020 season. When Burris returns, Franklin will likely continue to back him up. But Franklin is grateful to even be in this position.
“All the times that I would work out, and being by myself and not really knowing if this was all going to pay off,” Franklin said, “And having faith and talking with my family, getting this opportunity is one of the biggest blessings.
“Every day I wake up, and I just think about where I came from and where I want to go, so those two things keep me level-headed and keep me humble.”
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
