Robert Randall Johnson (born January 2, 1953) 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 an

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

for two seasons with the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

of 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). 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

Georgia Bulldogs The Georgia Bulldogs are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Georgia. The Bulldogs compete in NCAA Division I and are members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). The offic ...

, earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1975. Johnson was selected by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

in the fourth round of the

1976 NFL draft The 1976 NFL draft was an annual player selection meeting held April 8–9, 1976, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City, New York. The draft lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks making the first two ...

Early life

Johnson participated in

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

, wrestling, basketball, baseball and track at Pepperell High School in

Lindale, Georgia Lindale is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Floyd County, Georgia, Floyd County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is part of the Rome, Georgia Rome, Georgia metropo ...

. He was an All-area fullback and middle guard in football. The football team was 9-1 his senior year. He won the unlimited weight division in the Northwest Georgia High School wrestling tournament in 1970 and 1971. Johnson was the Region 7AA Champion in the unlimited weight division in 1970 as well. In 1971, he was the state champion of Georgia High School wrestling in the unlimited division. He was the runner-up in the state his junior year. Johnson participated in the State Track and Field competition in discus and

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

in 1971. He was also a

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

in basketball and baseball. He was inducted into the Rome-Floyd Sports Hall of Fame in 1977.

College career

Johnson played for the

from 1971 to 1975. He was

redshirted 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, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

in 1972. He was a three-year starter and letterman from 1973 to 1975. Johnson was named to the Gridiron News All-SEC team and played in the

Peach Bowl The Peach Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played annually in Atlanta, Georgia, since December 30, 1968. The first three Peach Bowls were played at Bobby Dodd Stadium, Grant Field on the Georgia Institute of Technology, Georgia Tech c ...

in 1973. He was named to the Pre-Season

Team, played in the Tangerine Bowl and earned

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

All-SEC honors in 1974. He was named to the Pre-Season All-American Team, earned AP and UPI All-SEC honors and garnered consensus All-American recognition his senior season in 1975. Johnson was also named Offensive Lineman of the Year by the Atlanta Touchdown Club, Southeastern Conference Lineman of the Year by the Birmingham Monday Morning Quarterback Club and College Offensive Lineman of the Year by the 100% Wrong Club. He was awarded the Jacobs Blocking Trophy for being the best blocker in the SEC, the William K. Jenkins Award as Georgia's best lineman and the Whitworth Memorial Trophy by the Muscogee County Bulldog Club for being Georgia's outstanding lineman in 1975. He was the offensive

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of the 1975 Bulldogs team. Johnson also played in the Cotton Bowl, Hula Bowl, the first Japan Bowl and the Coaches All-America Game in 1975. He took classes at Floyd Junior College and then finished his degree at Georgia in 1984.

Professional career

Johnson was selected by the

with the 122nd pick in the 1976 NFL draft. He was released by the Seahawks in September 1976 before the start of the 1976 season. Johnson signed with the

in 1977. He played in 22 games, starting one, for the Buccaneers from 1977 to 1978. He suffered a back injury and was later released by the Buccaneers in 1979. Johnson signed with the

Edmonton Eskimos The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division and plays their home games at Commonwealth Stadium. The E ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) on May 8, 1980. On June 13, 1980, it was reported that he had been waived. Johnson was then claimed off waivers by the CFL's

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

. He was released by the Roughriders June 19, 1980.

Coaching career

Johnson spent time as an assistant football coach at Coosa High School in

Rome, Georgia Rome is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia, United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia metropolitan area, Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statist ...

. He also coached at Pepperell High School where the team won the State championship in 1990. He then was head coach at Model High School and then returned to Pepperell. He ended his career at Cartersville where he retired.

Impostor

An impostor claiming to be Johnson played for the Orlando Americans of the American Football Association in 1981. The impostor was Robert Lee Johnson, who stole Randy Johnson's identity in an effort to improve his odds of making the Americans squad.

References

External links

Stats Crew profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Randy Living people 1953 births American football offensive guards Players of Canadian football from Georgia (U.S. state) Canadian football offensive linemen Edmonton Elks players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Georgia Bulldogs football players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players All-American college football players High school football coaches in Georgia (U.S. state) Players of American football from Rome, Georgia Coaches of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)