After earning all-state honors as a junior and senior at Caesar Rodney High School in Dover, Del., Steve Franklin knew he could play college football somewhere. He just didn’t know if he could handle the academics.

So instead of going to college and struggling, the senior offensive guard on the Syracuse football team went to Coffeyville Community College in Kansas and tested the college waters.

Halfway across the country, Franklin surprised himself by not just handling the academics but also doing well.

‘To be honest with you, I didn’t think I was going to go to college,’ Franklin said. ‘I struggled with high school and when I went to junior college it built my confidence up and it let me know that I could do this.’

After a one-year stint at Coffeyville, Franklin enrolled at Syracuse and has started all but one game in three years. Along with three seniors and one junior, Franklin anchors the offensive line from his right guard position. He’s succeeded on the field but also in the classroom, earning Big East All-Academic honors the past two years.

In his senior season, Franklin has now assumed a critical leadership role, too, serving as one of two captains, along with senior defensive end James Wyche. Franklin’s teammates elected him to the position, a sign of their confidence in him.

Senior offensive guard Jason Greene said that Franklin’s selection was very impressive because Franklin transferred and hasn’t been at Syracuse as long as a typical senior.

‘When he says something or yells, you definitely pay attention because it’s not something you hear all the time,’ Greene said. ‘I know a lot of guys have bad days and don’t really feel like being out there, they’re tired. But he’s the type of guy that’s ready to go everyday.’

Franklin will pull a younger player to the sideline and tell him to keep playing. He’s not afraid to single somebody out or critique a teammate, but he usually leads by example.

‘He’s a great guy,’ defensive tackle Chris Thorner said. ‘He would do anything for anybody. If you ever need anyone to talk to, he will. You couldn’t ask for anything more as a captain.’

If Franklin’s talent at offensive guard and leadership skills weren’t enough, he also enjoys singing. Greene said Franklin usually sings after practice in the locker room. He doesn’t pick any song in particular, just anything to make his teammates smile.

‘He’s probably still in there right now, singing and (joking around) with everyone else,’ Greene said.

Backup quarterback Joe Fields credited Franklin for helping him adjust to Syracuse when he enrolled in SU early after graduating high school a semester early. Franklin took Fields under his wing and helped Fields adjust to college life.

‘Steve brings great leadership skills. He leads by example,’ Fields said. ‘He’s not really an outspoken guy but you see him at practice and he takes the lead.’

If Syracuse is to succeed this year and achieve one of its stated goals of winning the Big East conference, its offensive line play will have to improve. Greene said one of the unit’s unspoken goals is to get the running back at least 100 rushing yards. If the line jells and consistently gives Damien Rhodes room to run, it’ll only make Perry Patterson or whoever is quarterbacking the team that much better.

‘We have some vast improvement to do over the first game and the second game,’ Syracuse offensive line coach Bob Wylie said. ‘They did some things that somebody who’s learning the line for the first time would do.’

Franklin knows that that the unit, including himself, needs to perform better. Starting with the first couple of plays, the line needs to set the tone and ‘look the defense in their eyes and let them know it’s going to be a long haul,’ Franklin said.

If that does happen consistently the rest of the year, Franklin might find himself in the NFL. It’s not something he talks about now; it’s a topic for the offseason he said, but Wylie, with all his professional experience, thinks it’s a possibility.

‘He’s going to have a chance,’ Wylie said. ‘Now once you get there, you have to make the best of the chance that you get. There is a good possibility he might have a chance.’

Wylie called Franklin a lunch-box type of player. He said that he tells Franklin to work on a specific aspect and then leaves Franklin alone so he can tutor a younger lineman.

When Wylie looks around, Franklin is doing exactly what he asked. Along with his work ethic, it’s just one of the many reasons Wylie loves to coach Franklin. It’s something a professional coach might someday notice, too.

‘He’s my kind of guy,’ Wylie says. ‘He works hard and he’s a tough, physical kind of guy that makes very few mental assignment breakdowns. He loves to play the game. He works at getting better and he studies at getting better. Those kids usually succeed and keep playing after they leave me.’

If Franklin does end up in the NFL, he can credit Syracuse but you can be sure he’ll also credit Coffeyville. If it hadn’t been for community college, Franklin wouldn’t be at Syracuse.

‘It started in junior college. I worked my tail off and I was very confident,’ Franklin said. ‘I was looking at schools with good academics like Syracuse, and a lot of people back in my hometown thought I wouldn’t be able to manage the academics. Hopefully I had the chance to prove them wrong.’

Published on September 7, 2005 at 12:00 pm