Marloshawn Franklin Jr.

photo of Marloshawn Franklin Jr.
Award: 
Outstanding Athlete
Award Year: 
2024

Marloshawn Franklin Jr. began his football career as one of the outstanding Chandler High School Wolves. His senior year he contributed 55 tackles, two interceptions that he returned for 61 yards, six passes defended and two forced fumbles. The team finished 10-3 overall and reached the semifinals of the Division I state playoffs.

Although his football achievements would have taken him to significant university teams, his classroom preparation lagged. At MCC, the 17-year-old received the support to ramp up his academics and football skills, earning him an Associate in Arts as well as first-team All-Western States Football League and second-team All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference honors. As a Thunderbird sophomore, he recorded 41 tackles and tied for seventh in the nation with 12 pass breakups. According to ESPN, he was ranked the No. 12 junior college cornerback in the country in the 2016 recruiting class.

At the University of California, Berkeley, he made a major impact his first season by starting all 12 games and contributing career highs of 46 tackles and a team high of seven pass breakups. He played in 22 games with 14 starts at Cal with a total of 60 tackles. Also, the athlete scholar earned his Bachelor of Arts in Sociology.

He went on to the National Football League with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, and then the Canadian Football League. In September, at the European League of Football championships, before more than 41,000 fans in Germany, Marloshawn intercepted a pass and nearly returned it for a touchdown in a 51-20 win by his team Germany's Rhein Fire over the Vienna Vikings.

Marloshawn always finds ways to give back to the community such as working with the Fiesta Bowl as a Fiesta Future and founding Relentless Sacrifices, a sports apparel line that funds a financial literacy program educating young people about fiscal skills. You will also find him at youth football camps mentoring the athletes to develop the knowledge needed on the field and to succeed in life.