His father says this all the time.
Anthony Frias II will fail, as in those terrible months when UCLA The running back is stuck in transfer portal limbo, unsure if his college career is over before he hears those familiar words.
This is part of the film.
He will try to remain anonymous, the police repeatedly came to his door at 2:30 a.m. because neighbors kept complaining about the sound of weights hitting the garage floor after yet another sweaty deadlift, and there it was again, his father's favorite phrase.
The family of UCLA running back Anthony Frias II gathers for a photo before the Rose Bowl before cheering on him and the Bruins.
(Frias Family)
This is part of the film.
Then there are moments like last weekend, when something happens that makes this entire incredible journey feel like it's just beginning, like there's still so much to do and so many people to inspire a kid from a tiny town in the San Joaquin Valley who was once not offered a college scholarship.
As an important part of the offensive game plan against Maryland, Frias scored his first career touchdown.. Later, with the Bruins needing to reach field goal range in the final moments of the game, he burst forward 35 yards, carrying defenders with him, to set up the winning score.
When Frias subsequently emerged from the tunnel inside the Rose Bowl to reunite with his family, filming in the stadium where he once stood as a teenager holding a sign announcing that he would one day play there, it was only a matter of time before he heard that chorus again.
“Every time something happens, he mentions it,” the namesake son said of his father, “and every time it makes me a little more confident that he’s right.”
For many years, the genre of António Frias II's story seemed uncertain.
Will this be a hero's story? A drama about unfulfilled dreams?
The only sure thing was the belief of the boy and his father, who believed that their journey would take them far beyond Le Grand, California, population 1,592.
Little Anthony wanted to play football so badly as a child that after breaking his knee, which would sideline him for the rest of the season, he developed his own rehabilitation plan.
He was only 9.
Setting his alarm for 5:30 a.m., he would wake his father and they would go for a half-mile run to a relative's house for a workout before running back. With his team on the cusp of the championship game, Anthony needed a doctor's clearance to return early.
One morning he brought a crumpled piece of paper to his mother's bed. When she suddenly woke up, he ran away nervously. Sabrina Frias looked at the paper that described his recovery and mentioned that he had been waiting for this moment all his life.
Anthony Frias II was in high school when he stood in front of the Rose Bowl holding a sign that read, “One day I will play here!” and had the Stanford logo. He achieved his dream of playing in the Rose Bowl, although it was for UCLA.
(Frias Family)
Anthony left his fate in his mother's hands, asking her to choose whether to circle the “Yes” he wrote next to the happy face or the “No” next to the sad face.
Her heart broke at the thought of giving up her son, and she circled “Yes.” Anthony scored all the points in his team's 20–19 victory.
By age 13, Anthony modeled his playing style after Christian McCaffrey, the dynamic running back from Stanford who competed for the Heisman Trophy. That's why the Christmas gift he received that year—tickets to see Stanford play Iowa in the Rose Bowl—has become an all-time favorite.
Before the game, Anthony's father drew a giant red “S” on his son's bare chest. Together they made a sign, which Anthony held above his head as he stood outside the stadium. It said, “One day I will play here!”
Looking back, Anthony said the sign was mostly his father's idea.
“He just knew,” Anthony said, “that I would be so special.”
Few people shared this opinion when Anthony left school.
Starring at Turlock High, which was not known for producing strong college prospects, was not enough to attract interest beyond a few Division II schools. What was the recruiters' biggest concern?
“When they looked at him,” Anthony’s father said of the man now 5-foot-10 and 225 pounds, “he wasn’t the guy they wanted.”
Committed to Modesto College, Anthony quickly rose from fourth-string to lead back during the 2021 season, surpassing 100 yards rushing three times and leading all California junior college players with 17 rushing touchdowns.
This was enough to get him a scholarship to Kansas State.
Kansas State running back Anthony Frias II catches the ball during a game against Tulane on September 17, 2022 in Manhattan, Kansas.
(Colin E. Braley/Associated Press)
Buried on the depth chart, he redshirted his first season with the Wildcats. The following season, playing primarily on special teams, Anthony rarely received more than one or two carries in any game. No matter how confident he was in his abilities, it was impossible to get rid of doubts.
He moved forward based on his religious faith and conversations with his father, who was also his therapist and best friend, who told him not to worry, that everything would pay off in the end.
“You know, we talk about everything, I’m with him all the time,” the elder Frias said. “I was there through the tears, I was there when I had to hold my son in my arms, when I asked the questions: 'What else can I do, Dad?' But he never wavered, he never gave up.”
He was really looking for a new football home.
Kansas State running back Anthony Frias II carries the ball while running into the Central Florida defense on Sept. 23, 2023, in Manhattan, Kansas.
(Travis Heying/Associated Press)
Before Kansas State played its bowl game at the end of the 2023 season, Frias entered the transfer portal. Then he began to wait. And I waited. Months passed, and there was still no new offer to play somewhere.
“Nobody came, nobody called, there was a moment where we just thought, 'Dude, what do we do?' said Father Anthony. “We just prayed and believed that everything would work out, don’t worry.”
Of course, the new Arizona coaching staff, who pursued Anthony when he was at San Jose State, offered the spot as his preferred player. This meant Anthony would have to take out student loans and pay for his own apartment in Tucson.
About a week before the planned move, Anthony received a call from Marcus Thomas, UCLA's running backs coach. Would you like to become a Bruin? Anthony told him that he needed to be more than just a passerby because otherwise he would just go 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 would not receive a scholarship.
Made.
When Anthony giddily walked into the Rose Bowl for the first time as a player during practice before the 2024 season opener, he FaceTimed his parents and even walked over to where he and his dad were watching the Rose Bowl game.
“That,” Anthony said, “was like the first full-circle moment I ever had.”
Anthony's first season as a Bruin mirrored his last season as a Wildcat in many ways. Before an expanded role in the season finale against Fresno State, there was a lot of special teams work and only a few carries.
Entering his final season in college, the redshirt senior had a scholarship but no guarantee of leaving 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 at Rose Bowl Stadium, never imagining that the name on the back would become one of the most talked about in the stadium.
When Anthony picked off a pass early in the second quarter, cutting one way and then the other before breaking a tackle en route to a 55-yard touchdown, his every move was accompanied by his father's voice in the stands.
“I was like, 'Oh, oh shit, oh shit!' said the elder Frias. “And then I get up and say, 'Oh!' and I see it [defender] I chase him, and I say: “Come on, Ant, turn it up!” and then he beat this guy and scored a touchdown and I just went crazy.”
With fellow running backs Anthony Woods and Jayvian Thomas later out of the game with injuries, Anthony Frias got a few more carries. His final goal, on the final attack of the game, captured the essence of a man who refused to give up.
Running away from one defender who tried to grab him by the shoulders, he turned away from another before finally being dragged to the five-meter line to set up the winning field goal on the next play.
“It was just all the pain, all the suffering, all the angst, all the training, all the late nights, all the lack of love, all the lack of opportunity—that running was a release from all of that,” his father said. “And when he came out of there, he let out his roar. He was like, “I won’t be denied anymore.” »
In one game and on just four carries, Anthony gained 97 yards, surpassing the 91 yards he gained in the previous three seasons combined.
“He made the best of the situation.” UCLA interim coach Tim Skipper said. “He made critical plays — I mean, we're not just saying he got some first down or anything like that, he made critical, impactful, explosive plays that changed this game, and for that to happen to him, it couldn't have happened to a better person.”
Later, emerging from a tunnel leading to the same spot near the Rose Bowl where he held that sign above his head nearly a decade ago, Anthony flashed a smile his father had never seen before as he reached the cheering crowd of family and friends.
“It was years of grinding and behind-the-scenes stuff that I went through,” Anthony said, “and you know, getting opportunities here and there to do different things and show that I could do more.”
Everyone was shouting his name, waiting their turn to hug, the only thing missing was the climactic score and credits.
You know what his father would say to that.
