Raymond Robert Johnson (October 16, 1914 – August 20, 1990) was an American 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 played three seasons 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) with the

Cleveland Rams The Cleveland Rams were a professional American football team that played in Cleveland from 1936 to 1945. The Rams competed in the second American Football League (AFL) for the 1936 season and the National Football League (NFL) from 1937 to ...

and

Chicago Cardinals The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois, as the Chicago Cardinals from 1898 to 1959 before relocating to St. Louis, Missouri, for the 1960 through 1987 seasons. Roots ca ...

. He was selected by the Rams in the ninth round of the

1937 NFL draft The 1937 NFL draft was the second draft held by the National Football League (NFL). The draft took place December 12, 1936, at the Hotel Lincoln in New York City. The draft consisted of 10 rounds, with 100 player selections, two of which would ...

after playing

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 ...

at the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private research university in Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1864, it has an enrollment of approximately 5,700 undergraduate students and 7,200 graduate students. It is classified among "R1: D ...

Early life and college

Raymond Robert Johnson was born on October 16, 1914, in

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. He attended

Wheat Ridge High School Wheat Ridge High School is a public secondary school operated by the Jefferson County School District R-1 in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, United States. Extracurricular activities Athletics State championship titles: *Baseball: 1992 (5A) *Boys' ic ...

Wheat Ridge, Colorado The City of Wheat Ridge is a home rule municipality located in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. Wheat Ridge is located immediately west of Denver and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area. The ...

. He was a member of the

Denver Pioneers The Denver Pioneers are the sports teams of the University of Denver (DU). They play in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I, and have amassed 35 NCAA titles as of 2024, which is in the top 15 among all schools (24 in S ...

from 1933 to 1936 and was a three-year

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 ...

from 1934 to 1936.

Professional career

Johnson was selected by the

in the ninth round, with the 90th overall pick, of the

. He played in two games, both starts during the Rams' inaugural 1937 season, rushing seven times for 28 yards. He appeared in one game in 1938, completing three of five passes for 45 yards and one interception. Johnson was released in 1938. Johnson signed with 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 of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

of the NFL in 1938 but was released later that year. He played in two games, starting one, for the

St. Louis Gunners The St. Louis Gunners were an independent professional football team based in St. Louis, Missouri, that played the last three games of the 1934 National Football League season, replacing the Cincinnati Reds on the league schedule after the Reds ...

of the

American Football League The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, AFL–NFL merger, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Foot ...

in 1938, scoring one rushing touchdown. He appeared in all nine games, starting four, for the Gunners during the 1939 season, scoring five rushing touchdowns and one passing touchdown. Johnson signed with the NFL's

in 1940. He played in the team's first game of the 1940 season before being released on September 11, 1940. He played in all ten games, starting eight, for the

Columbus Bullies The Columbus Bullies were a professional football team founded by Dean Carter in Columbus, Ohio, in 1938. The Bullies started out as a member of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1939. Later, in 1940, the Bullies joined t ...

of the

in 1940, scoring one rushing touchdown, one passing touchdown, and one interception return touchdown.

Personal life

Johnson died on August 20, 1990, in

Topeka, Kansas Topeka ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeastern Kansas, in the Central United States. As of the 2020 cen ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ray 1914 births 1990 deaths Players of American football from Denver American football defensive backs American football running backs Denver Pioneers football players Cleveland Rams players Chicago Cardinals players Chicago Bears players St. Louis Gunners players Columbus Bullies players