Science Hill High School

Aubrayo Franklin

Aubrayo Franklin talks softly but delivers a big stick.

Like Steve Spurrier, Franklin went from Henry Johnson elementary school, Science Hill and the SEC to the San Francisco 49ers, but the 6-foot-1, 320-pound defensive tackle has done it more quietly.

But Science Hill assistant coach Sandy Cody does remember Franklin, then a 265-pound middle linebacker, speaking up on the bus coming back from Tennessee High after the 'Toppers had dropped to 0-4 during the '97 season.

"Nobody was saying a word and I was sitting there thinking, 'Man, we're too good to be 0-4," Cody said. "Aubrayo looked at me and said, 'Coach, don't worry, we're going to get in the playoffs. It wasn't a question in his mind, and we went to the playoffs."

Franklin tackled the 0-4 start head on. He was in on 180 stops that season, including 12 sacks.

"He was something from tackle to tackle," Cody said, "265 pounds and quick as a cat."

Former Science Hill head coach Scott McClanahan remembers Franklin moving to the defensive line to help the 'Toppers rally from a 14-point deficit to defeat Clinton in a playoff game.

"Aubrayo and his defensive teammates had a tremendous second half and we won the game in overtime," McClanahan said. "Aubrayo played a huge role in us winning that

ballgame. ... We put him down and he dominated the line of scrimmage."

After two years in junior college in Mississippi, signed with Tennessee. He wore out Georgia during the Vols' 18-13 loss at Georgia in 2002. Franklin mashed Musa Smith a couple of times, while helping hold him to 29 yards on 19 carries.

"That was probably Aubrayo's best game at Tennessee," UT defensive line coach Dan Brooks said. "He made big things happen."

Franklin ended up being teammates with Smith during his four-year stretch with the Baltimore Ravens.

In between his first two seasons in Baltimore, Franklin helped Frankfurt to a World Bowl appearance in NFL Europe.

“That season in Europe was what I needed,” Franklin said. “It gave me an opportunity and I worked hard over there."

Franklin's work ethic wasn't lost on Tennessee strength coach Johnny Long.

"Aubrayo was dedicated and hard-working in the weight room," Long said. "He was consistent -- always showed up on time and did everything right."

When Franklin was at Tennessee, he'd often come back to town and sit with Cody in the pressbox on game night.

"I think it was more about him liking his grandmother's cooking," Cody said.

Franklin reunited with former Baltimore defensive coordinator Mike Nolan when he signed with San Francisco before the 2007 season. He made a career-high 26 tackles last year.

"He's very quietly achieved his goals playing in the SEC and the NFL, and that's the way he likes it," Cody said. "Aubrayo doesn't like the attention, but he loves playing the game of football. I think he'd do it for nothing."

Not that he is. In fact, if money really talks, Franklin could be about as vocal as any athlete to ever come out of Northeast Tennessee.