James Earl Johnson (born March 31, 1938) is a former American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player and

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

track athlete. Johnson was born in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

and raised in

Kingsburg, California Kingsburg is a city in Fresno County, California. Kingsburg is located southeast of Selma at an elevation of 302 feet (92 m), on the banks of the Kings River. The city is from Fresno, and about from the California Central Coast and Sierra Ne ...

. He is the younger brother of

Rafer Johnson Rafer Lewis Johnson (August 18, 1934 – December 2, 2020) was an American decathlete and film actor. He was the 1960 Olympic gold medalist in the decathlon, having won silver in 1956. He had previously won a gold in the 1955 Pan American Games. ...

, winner of the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in Athletics (sport), athletics consisting of ten track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek language, Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ...

gold medal at the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

. Johnson played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

and ran track at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

. He won the NCAA

110-meter hurdles The 110 metres hurdles, or 110-metre hurdles, is a hurdling track and field event for men. It is included in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympic Games. The female counterpart is the 100 metres hurdles. As part of a racing event, ten hurd ...

championship and was named an All-American in track and field. Johnson was the sixth player selected in the

1961 NFL Draft The 1961 National Football League draft took place at the Warwick Hotel in Philadelphia on December 27–28, 1960. The league would later hold an expansion draft for the Minnesota Vikings expansion franchise. This draft was also the first regula ...

and played for the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) from 1961 to 1976. He was selected four times as a first-team

All-Pro All-Pro is an honor bestowed upon professional American football players that designates the best player at each position during a given season. All-Pro players are typically selected by press organizations, who select an "All-Pro team," a list th ...

and played in five

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (starting in 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's star players. The format has changed thro ...

s. His jersey (No. 37) was permanently retired by the 49ers in 1977. In 1980, he was named as a first-string

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such offensive running plays as sweeps and reverses. They create tur ...

on the

NFL 1970s All-Decade Team The National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team is a list of National Football League (NFL) players selected by voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The squad consists of first- and second-team offensive, defensive, and special teams units, ...

, and in 1994 he was inducted into the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

Early years

Johnson was born in 1938 in

. His family moved to central California when Johnson was a boy. He attended

Kingsburg High School Kingsburg High School (KHS) is a public high school in Kingsburg, California, United States. The school is part of the Kingsburg Joint Union High School District. Its mascot is the Viking and its school colors are green and gold. As of 2018, th ...

in Kingsburg in

Fresno County Fresno County (), officially the County of Fresno, is a county located in the central portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 1,008,654. The county seat is Fresno, the fifth-most populous city in Cali ...

. Johnson's older brother

Rafer Rafer is a given name which may refer to: *Rafer Alston (born 1976), basketball player *Rafer Johnson (1935–2020), American actor and former decathlete *Rafer Joseph (born 1968), athlete *Rafer Mohammed (born 1955), athlete *Rafer Weigel (born 19 ...

preceded him as a multi-sport star at Kingsburgh High School and UCLA, ultimately winning the gold medal in the

at the

UCLA

Johnson attended UCLA and played for the

UCLA Bruins football The UCLA Bruins football program represents the University of California, Los Angeles, in college football as members of the Pac-12 Conference at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) level. The Bruins play their home games at the ...

team as a wingback and defensive back. He totaled 812 yards from scrimmage in 1959 and 1960. Johnson also competed in track at UCLA, won the NCAA 110-meter hurdles championship, and was named an All-American in track and field. While a student at UCLA, Johnson joined Pi Lambda Phi Fraternity, where he is recognized as a prominent alumni brother.

NFL career

Johnson was selected by the

in the first round (sixth overall pick) of the

and by the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

in the fourth round (31st overall pick) of the 1961 AFL Draft. He signed with the 49ers in June 1961. As a rookie, Johnson appeared in 12 games for the 1961 49ers, played at the cornerback position, and intercepted five passes for a career-high 116 return yards. He became a wide receiver in 1962 and caught 34 passes for 626 yards and four touchdowns. His most productive game as a wide receiver came against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) North Division. The team play their home games at Ford ...

, in which he caught 11 passes for 181 yards. Earlier that season, he caught a game-winning 80-yard touchdown reception against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

, which at the time was the longest scoring pass in 49ers history. Johnson returned to defense in 1963 and played principally at safety and cornerback for the rest of his career. He remained with the 49ers for 16 years through the 1976 season, appearing in 213 NFL games. During his 16 years in the NFL, Johnson intercepted 47 passes for 615 return yards and two touchdowns in his NFL career. He was selected four times as a first-team All-Pro: 1969 (AP, UPI), 1970 (AP, NEA, Pro Football Writers, Pro Football Weekly), 1971 (AP, NEA, Pro Football Writers, Pro Football Weekly), and 1972 (AP, NEA, Pro Football Writers, Pro Football Weekly). He was also selected to play in five Pro Bowls (

1969 This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...

–

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; f ...

). According to his biography at the

, Johnson is regarded as "one of the best man-to-man defenders in history."

Later years and honors

Johnson has received numerous honors for his football career, including the following: * In 1977, the 49ers retired Johnson's jersey (No. 37) during halftime of a Monday night game dubbed "Jimmy Johnson Night at Candlestick Park." * In 1978, Johnson was inducted into the Fresno Athletic Hall of Fame. * In 1980, Johnson and Willie Brown were named the first-string cornerbacks on the

. * In 1990, Johnson was inducted into the

Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame The Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame honors sports figures who have made a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization is a section 501(c)(3) nonprofit that was created by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in 1979. It is loca ...

. * In 1992, Johnson was inducted into the

UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). ...

. * In 1994, he was inducted into the

. * In 2009, he was one of the charter inductees into the

San Francisco 49ers Hall of Fame The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National F ...

References

External links

Jimmy Johnson's personal web site
*Pro Football Hall of Fam
Jimmy Johnson profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jimmy 1938 births Living people American football cornerbacks Santa Monica Corsairs football players UCLA Bruins football players San Francisco 49ers players Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Rafer Johnson family Western Conference Pro Bowl players National Conference Pro Bowl players National Football League players with retired numbers Players of American football from Dallas