Happy Trails, Tanklin!

Yesterday marked the end of an era for one of the recent greats of Mizzou Football. Considering who it was, the fact that it was slightly unheralded makes a whole lot of sense.

James Franklin, the Tiger QB who ushered Mizzou into the SEC and led his team to its first ever SEC East division title, announced his retirement from football on Sunday.

Franklin spent his career in the Canadian Football League after his graduation from Mizzou, playing from 2015 to 2019, racking up 4,305 career yards and 23 touchdowns. His first two seasons with the Edmonton Football Team saw his most efficient years, but he did find some success when he signed with the Toronto Argonauts, posting a 2000+ yard season in 2018.

Franklin wasn’t the pure NFL talent that Chase Daniel or Blaine Gabbert were, but he carried on the tradition of talented, winning Missouri quarterbacks in a meaningful way. His career was tainted by a few injuries (and brief controversies about his willingness to play through them), but Franklin was an integral part of the Tigers’ top five finish in 2013.

Happy trails, James. It’ll be impossible to forget your entrance onto the college football scene in 2011.

Drop some of your favorite Franklin highlights or memories in the comments!

Over the Weekend at Rock M

• SBNation Reacts: Post Final Four Reactions
• THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE COMPLETES A TRADE
• On Completing the Mizzou Basketball Roster

More Links:

• Saturday Down South wrote about year two of the Eli Drinkwitz, Connor Bazelak relationship and why it’s worth monitoring for fans outside of Columbia.
• It’s been a few days since any in-coming or out-going transfers were announced, so Eric Blum at the Columbia Tribune wrote an article assessing where the Mizzou Hoops roster stands at the moment.
• It was a tough Sunday for Mizzou Softball, which dropped both ends of a double-header to No. 17/15 LSU. The Tigers are now 29-9 on the season.
• Mizzou Baseball couldn’t follow up its Friday night magic when it defeated No. 11 South Carolina, dropping the rubber game of the series 13-4 on Sunday.
• Congrats to future Mizzou Tiger Sarah Linthicum on making the MBCA 6A All-State Team!

• In case you missed the big news, Marching Mizzou officially announced this weekend that it will be playing in the 2022 Macy’s Day Parade. Congratulations to all involved!

• If you’re looking to sign up for ESPN+, Rock M Nation now has an affiliate link: click Here for ESPN+ Now!
• If you’re looking to sign up for a new streaming service, you can try FuboTV: click HERE for FuboTV access — FuboTV now has ESPN, CBS, FS1 and more sports channels.
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