Keyshawn Johnson

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Keyshawn Johnson
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Position(s): Wide Receiver	Jersey #(s): 19
Born: July 22, 1972 (1972-07-22) (age 35) Los Angeles, California
Career Information
Year(s): 1996–2006
NFL Draft: 1996 / Round: 1 / Pick: 1
College: Southern California
Professional Teams
New York Jets (1996-1999) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2000-2003) Dallas Cowboys (2004-2005) Carolina Panthers (2006)
Career Stats
Receptions	814
Receiving Yards	10,571
Touchdowns	64
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
3x Pro Bowl selection (1998, 1999, 2001) 1x All-Pro selection (1998) 1998 Co-Pro Bowl MVP Super Bowl Champion (XXXVII)

Keyshawn Johnson (born on July 22, 1972 in Los Angeles, California) is a former American football wide receiver and current television broadcaster for sports channel ESPN. He retired from football on May 23, 2007 after an eleven-year career in the NFL.

[edit] Early life

Johnson is the youngest of his mother's six children. While her other children lived with relatives, she and Keyshawn struggled to survive, even living in her car at one point. At a young age, Keyshawn was in trouble with the law, spent time at a reformatory camp, and was the victim of a drive-by shooting.^[1]

However, by 1990, he had turned his life around, partly due to University of Southern California (USC) football head coach John Robinson. Robinson became a father figure to Keyshawn, allowing him to spend time with the team, fetch balls and helmets, and carry things for the players. Johnson lettered in football and track at Dorsey High School, and was first-team all-state in football. After he earned JC All-America honors at West Los Angeles College, USC offered him an athletic scholarship.^[2]

[edit] College career

Playing for Robinson, Johnson, a two-time All-American selection, led the USC Trojans to wins in the Cotton Bowl and the Rose Bowl. He caught 12 passes for a Rose Bowl record 216 yards and 1 TD in the Trojans' 41-32 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats, earning the game's MVP honors. He wore the number 3 in college.

[edit] Pro career

He spent the first few years of his professional career with the New York Jets, who drafted him with the top overall selection in the 1996 NFL Draft. He was the first wide receiver selected with the number one overall pick since Irving Fryar was chosen by New England in 1984 . While in New York, he played three seasons (1997-1999) under Bill Parcells. One of his best performances was in a 34-24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in a playoff game after the 1998 season. In that game, Johnson caught 9 passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown, recovered a fumble, and intercepted a pass on defense. Johnson was traded on April 12, 2000 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two first round draft choices (12th - Shaun Ellis - and 27th - Anthony Becht - overall) in the 2000 NFL Draft. Johnson signed a 6-year, $52 million contract extension with the Buccaneers that made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL. Johnson went on to win a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers in the 2002 season, leading the Bucs in receiving yards.^{[citation needed]}

Ten games into the 2003 season, however, Johnson's tenuous relationship with Tampa's head coach, Jon Gruden, helped seal his fate in Tampa.^{[citation needed]} The team traded him on March 19, 2004 to the Dallas Cowboys for Joey Galloway. Reunited with his former coach, Johnson lived up to his advance billing for the Cowboys in 2004, leading the team in receiving yards and tying for the lead in touchdown catches while taking over a leadership role in the locker room and on the field. Johnson's combination of size and speed gives him the ability to take over a game at receiver, but he has also established himself as an exceptional asset and one of the league's most complete players in the running game by making key blocks on a cornerback or safety down field or on a defensive lineman at the point of attack.^{[citation needed]}

His all-around game has earned him selection to the Pro Bowl three times - 1998 and 1999 with the N.Y. Jets and 2001 with Tampa Bay. Keyshawn Johnson finished his career with 814 receptions, tying him at 17th all-time with Henry Ellard for career NFL recptions. His 10,571 yards receiving is the 24th highest total in NFL history. In reaching the 600 career receptions plateau in 118 games, he tied Herman Moore for the second fewest number of games needed in NFL history to reach that mark, and he became one of only three players in league history (Moore and Marvin Harrison) to reach 600 receptions in less than 120 games. He caught 512 passes in his first 100 games to rank as the fourth most receptions in a player's first 100 games. The other three are: Marvin Harrison (591), Sterling Sharpe (524) and Lionel Taylor (516).

To achieve this production, he has averaged 74.8 catches-per-season over his first nine seasons, and caught a pass in every one of his 135 games played over this span. This accomplishment was the second longest streak among active receivers (Harrison, 139) and the third longest streak to begin a career among all players (Marshall Faulk, 158 and Harrison, 139) at that time. For his career, Johnson has recorded 60 or more catches in ten of his eleven NFL seasons. In 2001 and 2002, he became the first player in Buccaneers history to record consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons when he registered 1,266 yards in 2001 and 1,088 in 2002.

A durable player, Johnson has missed only three of a possible 145 career games - including playoffs - due to injury.

Keyshawn Johnson was released by the Dallas Cowboys on March 14, 2006.

On March 23, 2006, Johnson signed a four-year, $14-million-dollar deal with the Carolina Panthers. Of this, he was guaranteed a $5 million dollar signing bonus. He was expected to play opposite Steve Smith as the number two receiver.

During the Carolina Panthers' Monday Night Football game against the Buccaneers on November 13, 2006, Johnson became the first player in NFL history to score a touchdown on MNF with four different teams (Jets, Buccaneers, Cowboys and Panthers).

Keyshawn was fined $5K in Dec of 2006 for throwing his helmet in rage during a 27-24 loss to the Eagles.

Keyshawn Johnson was released from the Panthers on May 1, 2007 after just one season with the club. He posted 70 receptions for 815 yards and 4 touchdowns in Carolina.

On May 23, 2007, Johnson announced he was retiring from the NFL, reportedly turning down offers by several teams, including the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants. Titans' Head Coach Jeff Fisher, who became friends with Johnson while he played at USC and Johnson was a ball boy, said Monday he thought Johnson 's numbers and production spoke for themselves: "He still played at a high-level last year. He takes very good care of himself," Fisher said. "He hasn't had any injuries per se. Anytime you get a chance to bring an experienced veteran in to add to your roster then it's a good thing." On the same day, Johnson announced he would be working as an analyst for ESPN. (http://usctrojans.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/052307aab.html)

On February 5th CBS4 Miami reported that Bill Parcells reached out to Keyshawn Johnson. Parcells reportedly told him if he was to come out of retirement there would be a spot on the Miami Dolphins roster for him.^[3]

[edit] Analyst on ESPN

Johnson was part of the 2007 NFL Draft broadcasting team with Chris Berman, Mel Kiper Jr. and Chris Mortensen that aired on ESPN. It was announced that he will become an ESPN analyst for Sunday NFL Countdown, and Monday Night Countdown. He will also be an analyst on several ESPN telecasts, including pre-game shows on Sundays and Monday nights, and some radio work as well. He is also an analyst on the ESPN Who's Now competition.

[edit] Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

Johnson eventually earned the nickname Me-shawn for his flamboyant style, but his coaches, particularly Bill Parcells, considered him a hard worker and versatile player, a player Parcells called one of the best he had coached. (NY Times/AP, 5/24/07)

• During Johnson's stay in Tampa Bay, his first name became a verb in sports talk radio. "Keyshawning" a player came to mean deactivating him while keeping him under contract. For example, this neologism was directed at Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens after he repeatedly spoke out against the team and quarterback Donovan McNabb. The Eagles management suspended him for four games and told him he would be deactivated for the remainder of the season when his suspension ended. (Owens was released by the Eagles in March of 2006, and has since signed with the Cowboys.) This practice came to an end in 2006, when the approved collective bargaining agreement prohibited teams from "Keyshawning" players.

• He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated as a member of the USC Trojans in the 1995 season preview issue.

• On October 3, 2004 Johnson caused a considerable stir by characterizing a former Tampa Bay teammate, Ronde Barber, as an "Uncle Tom" while in the FOX broadcast booth during the Cowboys' bye week. (It is a common practice for NFL players to make guest appearances on FOX's or CBS's pre-game show during the one week each regular season when the player's team does not play).

• In 2005, Johnson had a short argument with quarterback Drew Bledsoe, whom Johnson believed had led him too far with a pass that resulted in a big hit, a Johnson fumble, and a touchdown for the other team. While the media made a big deal of this, both Johnson and Bledsoe insisted it was no big deal. This was clear later in the season when after a Dallas win over Kansas City, Bledsoe jumped on Johnson, both grinning like lottery winners, happy over their big win.

• Critics, like former Dallas Cowboy wide receiver and ESPN sportscaster Michael Irvin, are quick to note that Keyshawn's lack of elite speed keeps him from being a #1 receiver in the NFL. After Irvin said that Dallas has no #1 receiver, Johnson went on the offensive during a one-on-one interview with Irvin, reiterating that he was the No. 1 receiver in Dallas now.

• Johnson co-authored the controversial book, Just Give Me the Damn Ball! after his rookie season with the Jets.

• After Super Bowl XXXVII, Keyshawn taunted ESPN's Sterling Sharpe, former Green Bay receiver, by stating, "I didn't have to get my ring from my brother."

• Johnson married Shikiri Hightower, whom he met at USC, on February 14, 1998. He divorced her in 2002. They have 2 children, Maia and Keyshawn Jr.

• Johnson is a cousin to Baltimore Ravens CB Samari Rolle.

• Keyshawn's nickname is "Key". Since he joined the Panthers, fans also call him "We-Shawn" in Carolina because he's proven to be a team player and shows veteran leadership.

• During the season, Keyshawn hosted a weekly show on SIRIUS Satellite Radio's NFL Radio titled "Taking it to the House."

[edit] References