Johnny Richard Stanton IV (born September 7, 1994) 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 ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

. 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 ...

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada, United States. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. ...

. He signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in 2018, and also played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) for the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

Early life

Stanton grew up in

Rancho Santa Margarita, California Rancho Santa Margarita is a city in Orange County, California, United States. One of Orange County's youngest cities, Rancho Santa Margarita is a planned community, master-planned community. The population was 47,853 at the 2010 census, up fro ...

and attended

Santa Margarita Catholic High School Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) is a coeducational college preparatory Roman Catholic high school located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, United States. SMCHS is owned and operated by the Diocese of Orange, and was opened i ...

. As a junior, he passed for 2,439 yards with 13 touchdowns and rushed for 1,428 yards and 21 touchdowns and was named first-team All-Area by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. Stanton completed 59 of 88 passes for 949 yards with 11 touchdowns while rushing for 386 yards and eight touchdowns on 47 carries before he suffered a season ending knee injury five games into his senior year.

College career

Stanton began his collegiate career at

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, redshirting his true freshman season. He spent his redshirt freshman season as the third string quarterback, attempting one pass which was completed for six yards. Stanton left Nebraska at the end of the school year and transferred to

Saddleback College Saddleback College is a public community college in Mission Viejo, California. It is part of the California Community College system and awards over 300 associate degrees, academic certificates, and occupational skills awards in 190 programs. ...

for the 2015 season. In his only season with the Gauchos, Stanton completed 293-of-465 passes for 3,471 yards and 27 touchdowns and also led the team in rushing with 747 yards and 12 touchdowns. Stanton led the Gauchos to the 2015 SCFA Championship and onto the JUCO National Championship game against City College of San Francisco He committed to transfer to

for his final two seasons of eligibility over offers from

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. Stanton was named the Rebels' starting quarterback going into his first season with the team and completed 50-of-107 passes for 676 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions while also rushing 231 yards and a touchdown. He suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the season. As a redshirt senior, he played fullback as well as on defense and special teams and also started three games at quarterback. Stanton finished the season with 724 passing yards with four touchdown passes and two interceptions while also rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns and recorded nine tackles on defense and blocked a punt and returned one punt for 19 yards on special teams.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Stanton was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on May 7, 2018, after participating in a rookie

minicamp A mini-camp, also spelled minicamp, is a short camp held by National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) teams usually in spring of each year. The camp usually only lasts 3 days, but the length varies by a day or two depending ...

with the team. He was placed on season-ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

on August 21, 2018, where he stayed until he was waived on January 25, 2019. He was re-signed by the Vikings to their

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

on November 26, 2019. Stanton was released on December 10, 2019.

Los Angeles Wildcats

On December 17, 2019, Stanton signed with the

Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles: * Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL), a team that played in the American Football League of 1926 * Los Angeles Wildcats (Minor League AFL), a team that played in the ...

. He was waived on January 22, 2020.

Cleveland Browns

Stanton signed a reserve/futures contract with the

on January 28, 2020. He was waived at the end of training camp on September 5, 2020, and re-signed to the team's practice squad the next day. Stanton was elevated to the active roster on November 21 for the team's week 11 game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. Stanton was signed to a reserve/futures contract by the Browns on January 18, 2021. Stanton was waived by the Browns on August 31, 2021. Stanton was re-signed to the Browns' practice squad on September 1, 2021. Stanton was signed to the Browns' active roster on October 12, 2021. In Week 7 against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, Stanton scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on a 1-yard pass from

Case Keenum Casey Austin Keenum (born February 17, 1988) is an American professional football quarterback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Houston Cougars, where he became the NCAA's all-time l ...

in the Browns' 17–14 win. He was released on November 2, and re-signed to the practice squad on November 4. Stanton was elevated to the Browns' active roster on November 13, 2021. The Browns signed Stanton to a reserve/futures contract on January 10, 2022. Stanton was waived by the Browns on August 30, 2022.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bioUNLV Rebels bioCleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Johnny 1994 births Actual play performers American football fullbacks American football quarterbacks Cleveland Browns players Living people Minnesota Vikings players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players Sportspeople from Rancho Santa Margarita, California Players of American football from Orange County, California Saddleback Gauchos football players Santa Margarita Catholic High School alumni UNLV Rebels football players