Franks signs w/ Boston for $40K:
Gators QB Feleipe Franks signs with Red Sox
Gators QB Feleipe Franks signs with Red Sox
After being drafted by the Boston Red sox back in June, Florida Gators quarterback
Feleipe Frankswas one of five names to sign with the team on Friday. This announced move comes in advance of Friday's 5 p.m. baseball signing deadline.
While he's signed with Boston, this doesn't technically mean the Gators signal caller will be suiting up for the Sox with his collegiate football career still very much his main focus. It's also worth nothing, the NCAA allows players to retain their collegiate eligibility in one sport while signing a professional contract in another, so long as the player does not take endorsement deals.
Still, the UF starter has signed with Boston for $40,000,
according to the Boston Globe.
The Red Sox picked him in the 31st round (No. 947 overall) of last month’s amateur draft.
Boston Globe reporter Alex Speier also reports that Franks has “expressed interest in exploring pro baseball with the Sox down the road, but to be determined if he ever does so or if, like prior Sox draft pick/signee
Jeff Driskel (also from Florida), he doesn’t end up doing so.” Franks, a right-handed pitcher, hasn’t played competitive baseball since his junior year at Crawfordville (Fla.) Wakulla High.
Despite there being quite some time since Franks has taken to the diamond, Speier also added that Franks recently showed he's still got plenty of talent if he were to ever pursue a career in the big leagues down the road.
"If Franks doesn’t end up pursuing a football career, the Red Sox would have him come to spring training as a pitcher," Speier tweeted. "He got on a mound for the first time in five years after being drafted and touched 94 mph."
As for Florida fans, don’t expect it to change anything immediately for Franks, who's accounted for 33 touchdowns and 14 interceptions over the last two seasons in Gainesville after turning the corner this past season under new head coach
Dan Mullen. Franks can still play football, despite signing a baseball contract, just as Oklahoma’s
Kyler Murray did last year. Former Gators quarterback
Jeff Driskel is another UF player who signed with the Red Sox in 2013 but continued quarterbacking the Gators. Driskel is also entering his fourth year in the NFL. That means Franks can still pursue an NFL career, too, whether he leaves UF after his redshirt junior year or after the 2020 season.
Franks has even added in his own words back in June after being drafted that his main focus is on the Gators and helping the team any way he can this coming season.
"I’m flattered that the Red Sox picked me this afternoon," Franks said in a team press release last month. "However, I’m living out my dream being the quarterback of the Florida Gators. We’re all working extremely hard this offseason and I cannot wait to hit the field this fall."
Franks is also one of three players to be representing the Gators at next week’s SEC media days in Hoover, Ala.
The Gators will open the 2019 season on August 24 in Orlando as they take on the Miami Hurricanes.