Annual Michigan Football Bust - Master of Ceremonies
Dennis Franklin entered Michigan as a freshman in 1971 out of Massillon, Ohio and after playing
from 1972 through 1974 made quite a mark on the Michigan Football tradition. Under Dennis Franklin’s
leadership at quarterback, Michigan won 3 consecutive Big Ten titles from 1972 to 1974 and finished
with an outstanding record of 30 wins, 2 losses and 1 tie. Dennis was a First Team All Big Ten
quarterback in 1974 and let the team in passing and total offense every year from 1972 to 1974,
becoming, at that time, only the second player at Michigan since Tom Harmon to accomplish that feat
for three consecutive years.
Dennis was voted team captain in 1974, was an Honorable Mention All American and finished 6th in the
Heisman trophy balloting that year. He had 31 starts at quarterback, making him 5th place all time at
Michigan in this category. Dennis also won the 1974 Meyer Morton award, given by the M Club of Chicago
for the football player show shows the greatest development and most promise as a result of spring
practice and the 1972 John Maulbetsch Award which is given to the freshman football candidat3e after
spring practice on the basis of desire, character, capacity for leadership and future success both on
and off the gridiron.
The Maulbetsch award proved to be very well deserved as Dennis has had a great deal of success off the
field since his playing days at Michigan. He was Vice President of Kingword Productions in New York,
which distributed various television shows such as Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and Oprah. He the switched
to the West Coast about 4 years ago and began working for Ferrarro & Associates and sells real estate
to the stars out in Beverly Hills. He has one son, Kenneth Allen Franklin, who is currently at Michigan
studying for an acting career. Kenneth is already off to a hot start, appearing in the July issue of
Cosmopolitan Magazine as the Hunk of the Month and playing a role in the recent action film, SWAT.
Dennis has clearly been a leader on and off the field for Michigan and we are honored to have him
as the 2003 Football Bust Master of Ceremonies.
