Franks sticking with gridiron

Quarterback has big-league arm but won’t trade football for baseball

HOOVER, Ala. — UF quarterback Feleipe Franks does not miss baseball.

The game is a little too tedious and a lot less intense than football, the sport Franks has focused on the past four years and eventually hopes to make his career.

“It’s a lot slower than football,” he said. “You don’t see everybody every at-bat smacking home runs, which is fun to see. Football’s more of an adrenaline-rush game.”

Lately, though, Franks is warming up to America’s pastime.

Having helps.

Franks’ strong right arm was enough for the Boston Red Sox invest a 31st-round draft pick (947th overall) and $40,000 signing bonus on a 21-year-old who had not thrown a baseball since he was in high school.

“It’s been a good four or five years before I even picked up one,” Franks said. “I’ve thrown tennis ball, just joking around. But I never picked up a baseball, ‘Hey, just give me a glove, let me throw.’”

The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Franks quickly knocked off the rust during a workout with the Red Sox last month, hitting 94 mph on the radar gun.

Gators coach Dan Mullen, a New Hampshire native and lifelong Red Sox fan, said he’d be a little worried about his quarterback’s control and would not step into the batter’s box against Franks just yet.

“They do need a lot of help in the bullpen, it looks like. We’ve been struggling that way,” Mullen joked. “He can throw. He’s got a lot of heat. I’ve seen, though, he’s still working on his accuracy.

“I don’t know if I’d want to get in the batter’s box if he’s throwing 95.”

Told of his coach’s comments, Franks fired back.

“That’s because he doesn’t want to strike out,” Franks said. “Nah, I’m not super wild. When I was high school, maybe a little bit. I was pretty good actually off the mound. I was surprised. I mean, I was pretty accurate with a baseball.”

The Red Sox late-round gamble did not come totally out of left field. Franks said the team contacted him about 10 days prior to the June 3-5 draft, signaling interest was out there for him.

“I mean, it wasn’t for sure, like, ‘OK, we’re going to draft you,’ because nothing’s for certain,” Franks said. “But I kind of had an idea like this might happen. I didn’t realize it because we were in [UF football] meetings at the time.

“But yeah, it was just something cool.”

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Franks signed last week with Boston, giving the team his rights for the next five years.

Franks hopes to be in the NFL at that point. If not, baseball could become a fallback option, though the Gators’ QB is not thinking that far ahead.

“I’m fully committed to football. There’s not any wavering from that,” he said. “I play at the University of Florida. I want to go, obviously, to the next level and be the best I can be.

“But if it doesn’t work out, I think I’ll have a backup plan and plans I can lean my shoulder on.”

The most successful quarterback in Gators’ history, Tim Tebow, currently is pursuing a career in baseball with the New York Mets. The 31-year-old is with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse, though Tebow is struggling.

Tebow is the last UF quarterback drafted during the first round of the NFL draft, going to the Denver Broncos in 2010. But Franks is the second recent Gators’ signalcaller drafted in baseball, joining Jeff Driskel. The Red Sox took a late-round flier in 2013 on Driskel, who is now entering his fourth season with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Franks has big NFL dreams for himself. First, he must build on a breakout 2018 season when he accounted for 31 touchdowns (24 passing) to help the Gators to a 10-3 record.

“I want to make it there. I also want to thrive there,” Franks said of the NFL. “My end goal is to make it to the league and show everybody before the draft why I should be their quarterback, why I should be that guy that they’re taking a chance.

“But at the end of the day I have to focus on what’s happening now, and that’s this season.”

Even though baseball is not in his immediate plans, Franks is excited to get his hands on his signing bonus. Under NCAA rules, he can use it without hurting his football eligibility. It only precludes him from playing baseball at the college level.

Once he gets the bonus, he plans to fix his Buick LaCrosse, the victim of a fender-bender a couple of months back.

Franks also is sure to fire up the grill and share the wealth with his teammates.

A self-proclaimed “grill master,” Franks’ menu usually is limited by a lack of funds. Not any longer.

“It depends on what I can afford. You know what I’m saying, I’m broke,” he said. “I get Bubba burgers sometimes. If I have money, I’m going to drop it on a steak.”