David Johnson (born June 28, 1986) is an American former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

. He played for the Golden Hurricane at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

, where he was the

starting Start can refer to multiple topics: * Takeoff, the phase of flight where an aircraft transitions from moving along the ground to flying through the air * Starting lineup in sports * Starts use in sport race * Standing start, and rolling start, i ...

quarterback for the 2008 season, after several years as a backup. Johnson finished his senior season as the second-most efficient passer in the nation, behind only

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

-winner

Sam Bradford Samuel Jacob Bradford (born November 8, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Bradford attended Putnam City North High School, where he starred ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. Johnson himself was mentioned as a Heisman contender by several sources throughout that season.

Early life

David Johnson was born on January 15, 1986, in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. He attended Southridge High School in

Beaverton, Oregon Beaverton is a city in the Tualatin Valley, located in Washington County in the U.S. state of Oregon, with a small portion bordering Portland. The city is among the main cities that make up the Portland metropolitan area. Its population was ...

, where he played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

as a

. During his senior year in 2003, he completed 110 of 181

pass Pass, PASS, The Pass or Passed may refer to: Places *Pass, County Meath, a townland in Ireland *Pass, Poland, a village in Poland *El Paso, Texas, a city which translates to "The Pass" * Pass, an alternate term for a number of straits: see Li ...

attempts for 1,640 yards and 15

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

s. He also rushed for 375 yards and four touchdowns. As a college prospect, he was overshadowed by

Erik Ainge Erik Douglas Ainge (born June 12, 1986) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Tennessee Volunteers. He was selecte ...

of nearby Glencoe High School, who eventually played as a

quarterback at

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

. As such, Johnson was not recruited by any Division I schools, and so he began a campaign to promote himself as a prospect. The only school that showed an interest was the

. He was contacted by their recruiting coordinator, Matt Wells, who eventually offered Johnson a scholarship.Steve Irvine
David Johnson to start for Golden Hurricane after years of waiting, mop-up roles
''

The Birmingham News ''The Birmingham News'' was the principal newspaper for Birmingham, Alabama, United States in the latter half of the 20th century and the first quarter of the 21st. The paper was owned by Advance Publications and was a daily newspaper from its ...

'', August 25, 2008, retrieved January 6, 2009.

College career

Johnson

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically ...

ed his freshman year in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

. He then spent his first three years of eligibility as Tulsa's back-up behind

Paul Smith Paul Smith is the name of: Music * Paul Smith (composer) (1906–1985), American film music composer * Paul Smith (pianist) (1922–2013), Los Angeles jazz pianist * Paul Smith (English singer) (born 1979), vocalist and songwriter of British in ...

, with whom he roomed for two years. For his final remaining season of eligibility, in 2008, Johnson had to compete with anticipated recruit and

Bakersfield Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of the ...

junior college A junior college is a type of post-secondary institution that offers vocational and academic training that is designed to prepare students for either skilled trades and technical occupations or support roles in professions such as engineering, a ...

transfer Jacob Bower for the starting position. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, he was named Tulsa's starting quarterback, and he led the Golden Hurricane to an 11–3 record. After his performance against

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, in which he completed 24 of 39 passes for 469 yards and six touchdowns, he was named a

Conference USA Conference USA (CUSA) is a collegiate athletic conference of member institutions in the Southern and Western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. CUSA's offices are located in Dallas, Texas. Mem ...

Co-Offensive Player of the Week. It was the first time that a C-USA quarterback had ever thrown for six touchdowns in two games in the same season. Tulsa's three losses in 2008 came in a close contest against

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, a

blowout Blowout or Blow out may refer to: Film and television *''Blow Out'', a 1981 film by Brian De Palma * '' The Blow Out'', a 1936 short film * ''Blow Out'' (TV series), a TV series on Bravo * "Blow Out" (''Prison Break''), an episode of ''Priso ...

against

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, and a close but error-filled Conference USA Championship Game against

East Carolina East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university in Greenville, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of universities in North Carolina by enrollment, fourth largest university in North Carolina and the only one in the state with s ...

. In the

2009 GMAC Bowl The 2009 GMAC Bowl was the tenth anniversary edition of the GMAC Bowl, an American college football bowl game. The contest was played on January 6, 2009, as part of the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season at Ladd–Peebles Stadium in Mobile, ...

, Johnson engineered a rout, 45–13, against

Ball State Ball State University (Ball State or BSU) is a public university, public research university in Muncie, Indiana, United States. The university has three off-campus centers in Indianapolis, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Fort Wayne, and Fishers, Indiana. T ...

, which had finished the regular season with an undefeated 12–0 record. In that season, Johnson recorded 4,059 passing yards, 46 touchdowns, and 18 interceptions (five of which were in the C-USA title game), and finished as the second-most efficient quarterback in the nation, behind only the

winner,

.David Johnson Statistics
ESPN, retrieved January 6, 2009. Johnson was voted an All-Conference USA honorable mention player, and the ''

Sporting News ''The Sporting News'' is a website and former magazine publication owned by Sporting News Holdings, which is a U.S.-based sports media company formed in December 2020 by a private investor consortium. It was originally established in 1886 as a ...

'' named him the Conference USA Offensive

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

. Johnson was also named a semifinalist for the Draddy Award and the

Davey O'Brien Award The Davey O'Brien Award, officially the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award, named after Davey O'Brien, is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by the Davey O'Brien Foundation to be the best of all National C ...

. During the season, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

The News & Observer ''The News & Observer'' is an American regional daily newspaper that serves the greater Triangle area based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The paper is the largest in circulation in the state (second is the '' Charlotte Observer''). The paper has be ...

'', and

CBS Sports CBS Sports is the American sports programming division of Paramount Global that is responsible for sports broadcasts carried by its broadcast network CBS and streaming service Paramount+, as well as the operator of its cable channel CBS Sports N ...

had named Johnson as a

contender. Former Tulsa starter Paul Smith was one of seven quarterbacks in

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

history to surpass the 5,000 passing yards benchmark. Johnson said of his predecessor, "I was always learning from him. I didn't feel any pressure. He's the one who's been on my side this whole season, just telling me to go out and break all his ecords" In contrast with Smith's mobile style of play, Johnson is a traditional pocket passer. Tulsa head coach

Todd Graham Michael Todd Graham (born December 5, 1964) is an American college football coach and former player who serves as an offensive analyst for TCU. He was most recently the head football coach at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. Playing car ...

said of Johnson, "We'd like to have a guy who can run, but we've adapted to Dave's style with more drop-back passes instead of naked bootlegs">bootleg_play.html" ;"title="/nowiki>bootleg play">bootlegs/nowiki>."Eye of the Hurricane: Tulsa's high-octane offense centers around quarterback David Johnson
, ''Press-Register'' (Mobile, Alabama, Mobile), January 5, 2009, retrieved January 6, 2009. Johnson himself said that "Our expectation is score every time we have the ball." In 2009, Johnson participated in the

Texas vs The Nation Texas vs The Nation was an American college football all-star bowl game played from 2007 to 2013. Originally played at the Sun Bowl Stadium, the format of the game pitted 50 top-rated college seniors who played college or high school football in ...

game for the Texas team, and threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Knox in the third quarter and to Dudley Guice for 22 yards in the fourth, but Texas still lost 27-24.

College statistics

Professional career

affiliate, The NFL Draft Scout, ranked Johnson 16th among 123 rated quarterbacks available for the

2009 NFL draft The 2009 NFL draft was the 74th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 25 and 26, 2009. The draft c ...

and projected him as an undrafted free agent.David Johnson, Tulsa, QB - NFL Draft Scout Profile
NFL Draft Scout, retrieved January 6, 2009. As expected, Johnson was not selected by an NFL team, but he was invited to participate in the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

mini-camp on April 30, 2009, alongside former

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

quarterback

Brian Johnson Brian Johnson (born 5 October 1947) is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980 at the age of 32, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC. Johnson was one of the founding members of th ...

. David Johnson said, "All I've ever wanted was an opportunity, and they gave me an opportunity to try out." Both quarterbacks, however, reportedly threw erratically under duress during the mini-camp. Johnson was also invited to participate in the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

camp the following week. Johnson spent three years as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

at Sherman High School in

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...

. In 2013, he became a

graduate assistant A graduate assistant serves in a support role at a university, usually while completing post-graduate education. The assistant typically helps professors with instructional responsibilities as teaching assistants or with academic research resp ...

, working with quarterbacks, at Tulsa.Bill Haisten
"As a graduate assistant, David Johnson returns to TU"
''

Tulsa World The ''Tulsa World'' is an American daily newspaper. It serves the city of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and is the primary newspaper for the northeastern and eastern portions of Oklahoma. The printed edition is the second-most circulated newspaper in the sta ...

'', March 26, 2013 (pay site).

References

External links

Patience Pays Off for Tulsa QB; Senior David Johnson has waited for the opportunity to start
''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was ...

'', September 18, 2008.
Overlooked at Southridge, QB Johnson shines at Tulsa
''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', October 30, 2008.
New QB takes charge
''

'', August 31, 2008.
QB question mark for Tulsa
''

The Commercial Appeal ''The Commercial Appeal'' (also known as the ''Memphis Commercial Appeal'') is a daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by the Gannett Company; its former owner, the E. W. Scripps Company, also ...

'', August 12, 2008.
Athlete Spotlight: David Johnson
'' The Collegian'', September 16, 2008.
David Johnson and Tulsa are fun to watch
ESPN, October 22, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, David 1986 births Living people American football quarterbacks Tulsa Golden Hurricane football players Players of American football from Portland, Oregon People from Beaverton, Oregon Tulsa Golden Hurricane football coaches Central Oklahoma Bronchos football coaches Southridge High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni Missouri Southern Lions football coaches High school football coaches in Texas