Max Johnson (born July 25, 2001) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

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 ...

for the

North Carolina Tar Heels The North Carolina Tar Heels (also Carolina Tar Heels) are the college sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The name Tar Heel is a nickname used to refer to ...

. Johnson attended and played high school football at

Oconee County High School Oconee County High School is a public secondary school in Watkinsville, Georgia, United States. It is a public high school that hosts grades 9–12. It is one of two high schools in the Oconee County Public Schools district. Its mascot is the Wa ...

Watkinsville, Georgia Watkinsville is the largest city and county seat of Oconee County, Georgia, Oconee County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 2,896. It served as the seat of Clarke County, Georg ...

and began his college career at

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

before transferring to

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

, where he played from 2022–2023.

Early years

Johnson grew up in

Athens, Georgia Athens is a consolidated city-county in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. Downtown Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta. The University of Georgia, the state's flagship public university and an Research I university, ...

and attended

. As a senior, he threw for 2,143 yards, 30 touchdowns and five interceptions and was named the Georgia 4A Offensive Player of the Year. Johnson was rated a four-star recruit and committed to play college football at Louisiana State over an offer from Miami, coached by his uncle

Mark Richt Mark Allan Richt (born February 18, 1960) is an American former college football coach, player, and current television analyst. He was the head football coach at the University of Georgia for 15 years and at the University of Miami, his alma mate ...

, as well as offers from Florida State, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina.

College career

LSU

Freshman season

Johnson started his freshman season as the team's third string quarterback before being named the team's starter before LSU's game against

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. In his first career start, he threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns in a 37–34

upset victory An upset occurs in a competition, frequently in electoral politics or sports, when the party popularly expected to win (the "favorite") is defeated by (or, in the case of sports, ties with) an underdog whom the majority expects to lose, defying ...

over the sixth-ranked Gators and was named the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

Offensive Player of the Week for his performance. The following game, Johnson passed for an LSU freshman record 435 yards with three touchdowns and an interception while also rushing for 45 yards and two touchdowns in a 53–48 win over

Ole Miss OLE, Ole or Olé may refer to: * Olé, a cheering expression used in Spain * Ole (name), a male given name, includes a list of people named Ole * Overhead lines equipment, used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains Co ...

. In his first season at LSU, Johnson completed 88 out of 150 attempted passes for 1,069 passing yards, 8 touchdowns and one interception.

Sophomore season

Johnson was named LSU's starting quarterback during preseason training camp following an injury to

Myles Brennan Myles Brennan (born March 2, 1999) is an American former college football quarterback. Early years Brennan attended Saint Stanislaus College in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. During his career, he set Mississippi high school career records for t ...

. In his sophomore and final season at LSU, Johnson completed 225 out of 373 attempted passes for 2,814 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. On December 7, 2021, Johnson announced via social media that he would be leaving LSU to enter the transfer portal.

Texas A&M

On December 17, 2021, Johnson announced he would transfer to

. He appeared in 12 games over two seasons for the Aggies, but never started a full season during his time in College Station. His most extended action came during the 2023 season, when he appeared in eight games, filling in for the injured

Conner Weigman Conner Weigman (born August 8, 2003) is an American football quarterback who plays for the Houston Cougars. He previously played for the Texas A&M Aggies. Early life Weigman grew up in Cypress, Texas, and attended Bridgeland High School, where ...

. Johnson threw for 1,452 yards, nine touchdowns, and 5 interceptions in 2023. After the conclusion of the regular season, Johnson entered the transfer portal once again, this time as a graduate transfer.

North Carolina

On November 29, 2023, Johnson committed to

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. Following

Drake Maye Drake Lee Maye (born August 30, 2002) is an American professional American football, football quarterback for the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels football, ...

's departure, Johnson competed with

Conner Harrell Conner Harrell (born September 9, 2004) is an American football quarterback for the Charlotte 49ers. He previously played for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Early life and high school Harrell was born on September 9, 2004, in Alabaster, Alabama. ...

for the Tar Heel starting quarterback job, with Johnson being named the starter. In the season opener against

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, he left the game with a right-leg injury. The next day, it was announced that Johnson would miss the remainder of the 2024 season after undergoing surgery.

Statistics

Personal life

Johnson is the son of

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

and

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

quarterback Brad Johnson, the nephew of former

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

and

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

head coach

and the brother of former Texas A&M and current North Carolina tight end

Jake Johnson Mark Jake Johnson Weinberger (born May 28, 1978) is an American actor. He has starred as Nick Miller in the Fox sitcom '' New Girl'' (2011–2018), for which he was nominated for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Come ...

References

External links

LSU Tigers bioTexas A&M Aggies bioNorth Carolina Tar Heels bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Max 2001 births Living people American football quarterbacks LSU Tigers football players Texas A&M Aggies football players Players of American football from Irvine, California Players of American football from Athens, Georgia North Carolina Tar Heels football players