John Franklin III

John Franklin III (born September 21, 1994) is an American football cornerback who is currently a free agent. He played college football for Florida State, Auburn and Florida Atlantic. He also played junior college football for East Mississippi, where he was featured prominently in the first season of Last Chance U. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2018.

College career
Before college, Franklin attended South Plantation High School in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Franklin redshirted the 2013 season while playing for the Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles won the 2014 BCS National Championship Game against the Auburn Tigers. He was the scout team quarterback mostly used to mirror what the Noles would deal with in Nick Marshall. Franklin saw limited action in 2014. He was a member of ACC champion 4×100 relay team at Florida State.

Franklin transferred to East Mississippi Community College after the 2014 season. At East Mississippi, Franklin served mostly as a backup quarterback to Wyatt Roberts, as the Lions won the MACJC North title. On October 22, 2015, Franklin scored six rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown against Mississippi Delta, before the game was called off after a brawl broke out between both sides. The 2015 football season was documented in the Netflix series Last Chance U in 2016.

After the season, Franklin enrolled at Auburn, where he had started one game. On March 8, 2017, ESPN reported he was moving to wide receiver for the 2017 season. On August 15, 2017, he transferred to FAU to play for Lane Kiffin as a graduate transfer.

Professional career
After going undrafted in the 2018 NFL Draft, Franklin attended the Chicago Bears rookie mini camp on a tryout basis as a defensive back. On May 14, 2018, Franklin was signed by the Bears as an undrafted free agent. On September 1, 2018, he was waived by the Bears. He was re-signed to the practice squad on September 27, but was released later that day. Two months later, on November 24, he returned to Chicago's practice squad. He signed a reserve/future contract with the Bears on January 8, 2019. He was waived on August 31, 2019.