Orlando Franklin: How football led me down the right path, and to protecting Peyton Manning

Denver Broncos offensive lineman Orlando Franklin is giving Yahoo Canada Sports an exclusive first-person account of life in the NFL. Franklin grew up in Toronto before playing at the University of Miami and was drafted by the Broncos in the second round in 2011.

Growing up in Toronto is definitely not the easiest. Don’t get me wrong, I love Toronto. But there are certain parts where there’s a lot of bad stuff going on. A lot of people think that because they hear Canada, they think ‘Oh Toronto is so clean’ that’s all people outside of it really know. They don’t understand how much stuff be going on in the streets. You can get caught up in the system and being a part of your environment.

I was born in Jamaica. My mother got a visa to go to Canada and knew some people in Toronto, so it was only right that she go to Toronto. I came up when I was three, my brother was nine. Me, and my brother and my mom were homeless at one point, we lived in a shelter for a year before we got community housing at Victoria Park and Sheppard. (I try to go back there as often as possible.)

When I was 13 I got arrested for the first time. Back then the cool thing to do was to rob kids your own age, just because they might have something you don’t have. My friend and me robbed this kid and he ended up being in one of my classes at school. About three days later the police come knocking at my door. I got taken away for that. The charges got dropped but that was my first run-in with the law.

The second time, I was into some real bad stuff. Breaking into houses, stealing cars. I would go to school just to meet up with friends then go steal a car. That’s what we thought was cool. When I was 15 I was arrested again for robbery, possession of a stolen vehicle and breaking and entering.

After that arrest I had an opportunity to really think about it. My mom left me in jail a little bit over a month to teach me a lesson. My brother told me I needed to be the good one, to go down the right path. After that I sat down and had a conversation with my mom and she said “What do you really want to do with your life?”

I had started playing football when I was seven. A couple of my buddies, Shawn and Neil, I would see them walking around with football equipment but I never really understood it. They said they would take me to practice the next week. I remember begging my mom to let me go to practice. I immediately liked it and it was a good thing for me – it got me out of my neighbourhood three days a week. Everyone told me I was good and I could make it. But I knew I couldn’t make it if I stayed where I was, because I’m going to keep getting myself in trouble.

The hardest decision I ever had to make in my life was leaving Toronto and moving to Florida. My mom quit her job and moved to Florida for me. Six to eight months later the charges against me were dropped, my mom came back and I moved to Florida two days later.

The rest is sort of history. I finished high school in Florida, got a scholarship to the University of Miami, and was drafted in the second round by the Denver Broncos.

Now, I play on the offensive line and protect Peyton Manning, one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. I think he ranks No. 1, he’s gonna break every quarterback record known to man.

There’s definitely added pressure protecting a guy like Peyton Manning. Being that he’s an older guy, you know he doesn’t have too many hits left in him. You have to take pride in pass blocking – you don’t want to be the guy that gets him laid out. You have to be able to take care of your business. And it’s definitely in the back of your mind – this guy is gonna be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

He’s a cool guy, too. A lot of people don’t realize how much of a prankster he is off the field. On the field, he demands perfection – he’ll get mad at you, he’ll curse you out if you’re not doing the right things. But he has to be able to trust his teammates in order to do the right things. His football IQ is ridiculous. He’s a perfectionist so you want to do good for him.

He brings the best out of you. This is my third season playing with him, and he’s definitely made me a better player. He’s a guy that makes everyone around him better; he forces you to be at the top of your game.

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