Freedom's Wesley Franklin will play for Ferrum

As National Signing Day approached for many high school seniors to have a chance to sign a letter of intent for football at different colleges across the nation, Freedom's Wesley Franklin used the opportunity to sign to Division III Ferrum College in Virginia.
"Wesley was instrumental in our success during my first year at Freedom," said Freedom head coach Mike Helms. "When you consider the importance of a punter, kicker and field goal kicker and know you have a guy to do all three, then you are very lucky as a coach. He will make Ferrum an outstanding kicker and I look forward to reading about his many successes."

Here's an exclusive Q&A with Wesley Franklin

Q: What influenced your decision to choose Ferrum College?
Franklin: Ferrum College has a long tradition of excellent football teams with a stable coaching staff and one of the best punters in all of Division III, who will be a senior next season.
Q: When did you get started in football?
Franklin: I started my freshman year at Freedom while playing soccer for Coach Adam Mazzolini, where the JV football team did not have a kicker. I thought I would give it a try.
Q: Who was your influence to play football?
Franklin: My dad, Kevin Franklin, has been my biggest supporter as well as the rest of my family. My dad and I have worked very hard together almost every weekend over the years practicing and attending camps to help me improve. He even joined the Freedom coaching staff this past year to work with me and the JV kicker.
Q: What are you going to be studying at Ferrum and what are your future plans?
Franklin: I plan to major in history and education so that after college I can teach and coach athletics. I want to have an opportunity to work with other kids who I can influence in a positive way and help them achieve their goals like I have been so fortunate to do.
Q: What did you get out of your career as a kicker and a punter for Freedom?
Franklin: I played with some excellent people over the years. I made friendships that will last a lifetime with people such as Jon Eure, Cole Brooks and Michael Helms.
The support of this year's coaching staff has been tremendous. Head coach Helms, coach Al Gellys, coach Joe Lowman, coach Jeff Williams and my dad, have been significant.
Being an average high school kicker would have been easy, but I wanted to be better than average and found that the only way to be great was to work on my own. We kicked every week, not just during football season at Patriot Stadium.
Q: What advice would you give younger kids that want to pursue the goal of being able to play in high school and the college ranks?
Franklin: Hard work, determination and the belief that you can be the best. It also takes the support of others to work with you and push you. To me, football is a year-round sport where I kick all the time, not just in the fall each year.
Q: Any extra thoughts on your career at Freedom as you approach to start another career as a kicker for the Ferrum College Panthers?
Franklin: I have been very fortunate. Football has made me a better person and opened doors to a future in college football. I am excited to begin the next stage of my life. I will have an opportunity to work with Ferrum's current punter, who was the Division III statistical champion in 2008.
Making the decision to go to Ferrum ultimately became easy as head coach Dave Davis, coach Cleive Adams and coach Pete Shaw showed me how much they wanted me to be a part of their program. Ferrum is a small school, but they have produced NFL players and even won National Championships.
Ultimately, God had a plan for me and my family supported me beyond comprehension.

Wesley Franklin
By the numbers
2009 stats

42: Punts
38.1: Punt average
63: Longest punt by yards
15: Punts inside the 20
49: Kickoffs
58.5: Kickoff average
70: Longest kickoff by yards
21: Touchbacks
7: Completed field goals
11: Field goals attempted
36: Longest field goal by yards
1: Ranking for 3A N.C. schools on MaxPreps for punts, kickoffs and field goals
7: Ranking for all N.C. schools in punts and field goals on MaxPreps
9: Ranking for all N.C. schools in kickoffs on MaxPreps
2009: SMAC All-Conference selection, special teams captain and team captain