Johnny Johnson Jr. (born June 11, 1968) is an American former professional

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 ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

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(NFL) for the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East division. The team p ...

and the Phoenix Cardinals between 1990 and 1994. He played

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 ...

for the San Jose State Spartans.

High school and college

He prepped at Santa Cruz High School. Johnson attended and graduated from

San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...

. For the San Jose State Spartans basketball team, Johnson played twelve games as a basketball player after a large majority of the team walked off and refused to play under coach

Bill Berry William Thomas Berry (born July 31, 1958) is an American musician who was the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. Although best known for his economical drumming style, Berry also played other instruments, including guitar, bass guita ...

, accusing him of "mental cruelty". With 1,219 yards rushing and 61 catches in receiving, Johnson was considered among the top 20 college football players in the United States in 1988. After five games into his senior season, Johnson was dismissed from the team for missing practices and team meetings. Johnson's reasoning for missing practices was to help take care of his mother in the aftermath of the

1989 Loma Prieta earthquake On October 17, 1989, at 5:04 p.m. Pacific Time Zone, PST, the Loma Prieta earthquake occurred at the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz Cou ...

, but because telephone lines were down across the area, there wasn't much of a way for Johnson to communicate to his head coach Claude Gilbert. Gilbert however claimed that Johnson had already skipped 2:00pm practice anyway to attend Game 3 of the

1989 World Series The 1989 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 1989 season. The 86th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff played between the American League (AL) champion Oakland Athletics and the ...

. Nevertheless, his dismissal from the Spartans football program dropped Johnson's draft stock all the way to the 169th pick in the 1990 NFL draft by the Phoenix Cardinals.

Professional career

Johnson played in the

1991 Pro Bowl The 1991 Pro Bowl was the NFL's 41st annual all-star game which featured the outstanding performers from the 1990 season. The game was played on Sunday, February 3, 1991, at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii before a crowd of 50,345. The final ...

. After playing for three seasons for the Cardinals, he was traded during the

1993 NFL draft The 1993 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 25–26, 1993, at the Marriot M ...

to the New York Jets, in exchange for the Cardinals moving from the number 4 pick in the draft to the Jets' number 3 draft position. The Cardinals badly wanted Garrison Hearst, who also played running back, so the Cardinals were willing to part with Johnson just to move up one draft spot. After arriving on the Jets, Johnny Johnson was named Jets team

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: ...

in 1993 in a vote by his teammates. Johnson finished the season ranked second in the AFC in total

yards from scrimmage Yards from scrimmage is a gridiron football statistical measure. In the game of football, progress is measured by advancing the football towards the opposing team's goal line. Progress can be made during play by the offensive team by advancing ...

. He was one of only two backs to lead his team in rushing and receptions. He became a free agent in 1995, and the Jets made him available for the

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that year. Johnson considered signing with the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the 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 ...

, where he would twice refuse to work out for that year. In April 1996, Johnson signed a two-year, $3-million contract with the 49ers; consequently, the 49ers waived

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

to make

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Seve ...

room for Johnson. Ultimately, he never played a down for the team, having suffered an inflamed joint in his lower back during opening non-contact practice in training camp on July 18. He was then cut in August.https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Johnny-Johnson-Gone-Jaeger-Next-Running-back-2969285.php

NFL career statistics

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Johnny 1968 births Living people American football running backs National Conference Pro Bowl players New York Jets players Players of American football from Santa Clara, California Players of American football from Santa Cruz, California Phoenix Cardinals players San Francisco 49ers players San Jose State Spartans football players San Jose State Spartans men's basketball players American men's basketball players Santa Cruz High School alumni 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen