Adversity made Anthony Frias II’s success at UCLA all the sweeter

His father says that all the time.

Anthony Frias II will suffer a setback, like those scary months when UCLA was stuck in the transfer portal, unsure if his college career was over, and he will hear those familiar words.

It’s part of the movie.

He’ll strain at anonymity, as the police repeatedly come to his door at 2:30 a.m. because the neighbors kept complaining about the sound of weights hitting the garage floor after another sweaty deadlift, and here comes his father’s favorite phrase again.

It’s part of the movie.

Then there are moments like last weekend, when something happens that makes this whole improbable journey feel like it’s just beginning, as if there’s too much to do and too many people to inspire the kid from a small town in the San Joaquin Valley who previously had no college scholarship offers.

After becoming a bigger part of the offensive game plan against Maryland, Frias opted out for his first career tackle. Later, with the Bruins needing to get into field goal range in the game’s final moments, he drove forward for 35 yards, pulling defenders with him for the winning score.

When Frias emerged from the tunnel into the Rose Bowl afterward to reconnect with his family, having starred on the field where he once stood as a teenager holding a sign indicating he would one day play there, it was only a matter of time before he heard that phrase again.

The son and namesake said of his father: “Every time something happens, he reminds me, and it gives me more faith every time that he is right.”

For many years, the type of story of Anthony Frias II seemed uncertain.

Will it be a hero’s tale? A drama about unfulfilled dreams?

The only thing that is certain is the conviction of the boy and his father, who believed that their journey would take them far beyond the borders of Le Grand, California, population 1,592.

Little Anthony wanted to play football so badly that, after suffering a hairline fracture in his knee that was supposed to sideline him for the rest of the season, he devised his own rehabilitation plan.

He was only 9 years old.

He set his alarm for 5:30 a.m., would wake his father and they would walk a mile and a half to a relative’s house to exercise before returning. With his team about to play in the championship game, Anthony needed medical clearance to return ahead of schedule.

One morning, he took a crumpled piece of paper to his mother in bed. When she woke up unexpectedly, he ran away nervously. Sabrina Frias looked at the paper about his recovery and stated that he had been waiting for this moment all his life.

Anthony left his fate in his mother’s hands and asked her to choose: circle the “yes” he wrote next to a happy face or “no” next to a sad face.

Her heart sank at the thought of her son’s denial, so she spun a ‘yes’ circle. Anthony went on to score every point in his team’s 20-19 win.

By the time he was 13, Anthony had modeled his game after Christian McCaffrey, the dynamic Stanford player who was aggressively gunning for the Heisman Trophy. That’s what made the Christmas gift he received that year — tickets to watch Stanford play Iowa in the Rose Bowl — his favorite of all.

Before the game, Anthony’s father drew a giant red “S” on his son’s bare chest. Together they made a sign that Anthony held above his head as he stood outside the field. It said: “One day I’ll play here!”

Looking back, Anthony said the sign was mostly his father’s idea.

“He knew I was going to be very special,” Anthony said.

Few people shared this belief when Anthony was about to graduate from high school.

Turlock High, not known for producing high-level collegiate students, wasn’t enough to attract interest outside of a few Division II schools. What is the biggest feedback from recruiters?

“When they looked at him, he wasn’t the guy they wanted,” Anthony’s father said of someone who now stands 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighs 225 pounds.

Enrolling at Modesto Junior College, Anthony quickly rose from fourth-rounder to standout running back during the 2021 season, topping 100 yards rushing three times and leading all junior college players in California with 17 rushing touchdowns.

That was enough to earn him a scholarship offer to Kansas State.

Buried on the depth chart, he redshirted during his first season with the Wildcats. The following season, Anthony played mostly on special teams, rarely getting more than a carry or two in any given game. As confident as he was in his ability, it was impossible to banish doubt.

He forged ahead, buoyed by his religious faith and conversations with his father who happened to be his therapist and best friend, telling him not to worry, because things would pay off in the end.

“You know, we talk about it, and I’m there for him all the time,” the elder Frias said. “I’ve been there through the tears, I’ve been there through the need to hold my son, through asking, ‘What more can I do, Dad?’” But he never faltered, and he never gave up.

He sought a new home for football.

Before Kansas State played its game at the end of the 2023 season, Frias entered the transfer portal. Then wait. And wait. Months passed without a new offer to play elsewhere.

“No one came, no one called, and there was a moment where we said, ‘Man, what are we going to do?'” Anthony’s father said. “We just prayed and had faith, like it’s going to work out, don’t worry.”

Sure enough, Arizona’s new coaching staff, which had been pursuing Anthony while he was at San Jose State, offered a spot as a favorite. This meant Anthony would have had to take out student loans and pay for his own apartment in Tucson.

About a week before he was scheduled to transfer, Anthony received a phone call from Marcus Thomas, the running backs coach at UCLA. How do you want to become a Bruin? Anthony tells him that it will need to be more than just a favorite ride because otherwise he will be going to Arizona.

Less than five minutes later, UCLA offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy called. The team agreed to cover his tuition and living expenses through the Name, Image and Likeness Funds, even though he will not be on scholarship.

finished.

When Anthony stepped onto the Rose Bowl field for the first time as a player, during practice before the 2024 season opener, he FaceTimed with his parents, even going to the seat where he and his father watched the Rose Bowl game.

“That was like the first full moment I had,” Anthony said.

Anthony’s first season as a Bruin largely mirrored his final season as a Wildcat. There was a lot of special teams work and only a few were there before the expanded role in the season finale against Fresno State.

Entering what will likely be his final college season, the redshirt senior has earned a scholarship but no guarantee of stepping out of the shadows.

As usual, his father wore his son’s No. 22 jersey last weekend as he settled into his seat in the family section of the Rose Bowl, never imagining that the name on the back would be one of the most talked about on the field.

When Anthony made a handoff early in the second quarter, cutting one way and then the other before breaking a tackle on his way to a 55-yard touchdown, his every move was accompanied by his father’s voice in the stands.

“I’m like, ‘Oh, oh dang, oh dang!’ – said the elder Frias. “Then I stand up, like, ‘Oh! “And I see that [defender] I chase him and say: Come on, ant, raise your voice! Then he beat the guy for the touchdown, and it drove me crazy.

With fellow running backs Anthony Woods and Javien Thomas later sidelined with injuries, Anthony Frias got a few extra carries. His last, on the final offensive play of the game, captured the essence of someone who refused to quit.

Escaping from a defender who tried to grab him by the shoulders, he moved away from another defender before finally being dragged to the five-yard line to set up the winning field goal on the next play.

“All the pain, all the suffering, all the longing, all the training, all the late nights, all the no love, all the no chance, which means freedom from that,” his father said. “And when he got out of there, he roared. He said, ‘I won’t be rejected anymore.'”

In just one game and four carries, Anthony has compiled 97 rushing yards — more than the 91 he recorded in the previous three seasons combined.

“He made the best of the situation,” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper said. “He made decisive plays — I mean, we’re not just talking about him getting the first at-bat or something like that, he made decisive, impactful, explosive plays that changed that game and for that to happen for him, it couldn’t have happened to a better person.”

Later, as he emerged from the tunnel leading to the same spot outside the Rose Bowl where he held that banner above his head nearly a decade earlier, Anthony smiled a smile his father had never seen before as he reached a cheering crowd of family and friends.

“It’s been all the years of hard work and behind-the-scenes stuff that I’ve been through, you know, getting opportunities here and there to do different things and show that I can do more,” Anthony said.

Everyone was screaming his name, waiting for their turn to hug, and the only thing missing was the amazing score and rolling credits.

You know what his father would say about that.