Franklin received an athletic scholarship to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, where he played for the UCLA Bruins football team from 2009 to 2012. During the 2010 season, Franklin had a career-high of 30 carries for 216 yards in a game against Washington State. He scored three touchdowns against Houston. Franklin averaged 5.4 yards per carry for a total 1127 yards 8 touchdowns during 2010. His longest rushing attempt was 55 yards. Franklin had 976 yards on the ground and 74 receiving yards in the Bruins' Pac-12 South Division Championship year. In the 2012 season opener against Rice, Franklin ran for 214 yards on 15 carries and three touchdowns. He was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week on September 3, 2012. At the team's home opener win over No. 16 ranked Nebraska, Franklin rushed for 217 yards for an average of 8.3 yards per carry, which placed him at 7th place of the UCLA rushing record list. He was named Pac-12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week again and was the nation's leading rusher with an average of 215.5 yards per game. On November 3, 2012, he surpassed Gaston Green's 3,731-yard career record at UCLA in a 66-10 victory against Arizona at the Rose Bowl on Homecoming Day. It was broken when he ran for 37 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Franklin was voted second best running back in the nation in the Doak Walker Award, finishing just behind Montee Ball of Wisconsin. During the 2012 season, Franklin played in 13 games and rushed 268 times for 1,734 yards for 13 touchdowns, averaging 133.4 yards per game. His longest run was 78 yards and he had 2058 all purpose yards for an average of 158.3 yards per game, enough to lead the Bruins to the Pac-12 South Division Championship. He finished his UCLA career with 4,403 yards rushing.
Statistics
Professional career
Franklin was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the fourth round, with the 125th overall pick, of the 2013 NFL Draft. In the Week 3 loss against the Cincinnati Bengals, Franklin rushed for 103 yards and scored a touchdown, but had a fumble that was returned for the game-winning touchdown. He suffered a severe neck injury in the Week 12 game against the Minnesota Vikings. He was put on injured reserve on November 27, 2013. On June 19, 2014, Packers Head coach, Mike McCarthy announced that Franklin would not return with the Packers for the 2014 season. That same day Franklin announced his retirement from football. Doctors told him that one hit could paralyze him from the neck down. The Packers officially released him the following day. In his only season in the NFL, Franklin played a total of eleven games.
Post-playing career
After Franklin announced his retirement from professional football, he began an internship in the front offices of the Packer organization. He then worked within sales and business development, as well as community outreach and the media department. “I love this game of football. It hurts and it bothers me, but I know God has something better for me,” Franklin has said about transitioning from a football player to a businessman. In December 2014, Franklin was hired by the University of Notre Dame as an administrator for student welfare and development. He will develop community outreach programs and workshops for the school's student-athletes. Franklin will also lead the student-athlete bible study. Since 2017, Franklin has worked for the Los Angeles Rams in Community and External Relations. He helps run skill and 7-on-7 camps, professional etiquette classes and financial literacy sessions for Los Angeles youth. In 2018, Johnathan appeared on Love Connection with Andy Cohen, in search for the love of his life.
