DRAFT 2005: Friday night fights helped prep UT linebacker for NFL
link:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2042530
Associated Press
National Football League News Wire
AUSTIN, Texas -- The sniffly 9-year-old begged his mother not to make him get out of the car.
"Don't make me go, Mama," Derrick Johnson cried while tugging his mother's skirt. "I don't want to play football."
Beverly Johnson was having none of that: "Stop acting like a little girl!" she said. "You're going."
So he did, trudging across the practice field on a walk that eventually led to stardom as a linebacker at the University of Texas. Now considered one of the best players to ever wear the burnt orange, Johnson is projected to be one of the first defensive players selected Saturday in the NFL draft.
The Nagurski and Butkus awards winner who set an NCAA record with nine forced fumbles last season, he can laugh now about his wimpy beginning.
"I didn't like the coach. He was always yelling. I wasn't used to that," Johnson said. "It turned out pretty good."
Added Beverly Johnson: "It took him about three or four times before he realized the coach wasn't going to chew him up and spit him out."
Once he got over the coaching thing, it was clear her son was faster and more physical than the other kids.
"Football is in his blood," said older brother Dwight Johnson, who was a defensive tackle at Baylor and played with the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. "We trained him like a pit bull to have a killer instinct."
Dwight Johnson said Derrick always was a scrapper. When Derrick was about 2, his brother would take him for walks around the neighborhood where a friend had a little brother about his age. The two older boys would set their brothers to wrestling.
"They'd be slamming each other down," Dwight said. "Mama would ask later, 'What are all those scratches on my baby's face?"
Before long, the Johnson brothers were staging "Friday Night Fights" in the yard to toughen up Derrick. Derrick would strap on gloves and duke it out with other kids. Dwight Johnson said the fights never got vicious, but there was more than one split lip.
"We were just country boys," having fun, he said. "Derrick would be this little boy with these big old gloves on."
A skinny kid in middle school and high school -- his brothers used to eat food off his plate -- Johnson quickly grew up to lay big hits on his opponents.
By his senior year at Waco High School, he was a prep All-American and his speed and knack for making the big play quickly earned him a spot on the field at Texas as a freshman. As a junior, he was projected as a first-round draft pick, but was having too much fun to leave college early.
Instead, he spent his final season learning from Greg Robinson, who spent a year as the Longhorns' defensive co-coordinator before becoming the head coach at Syracuse.
Robinson, who coached 14 seasons in the NFL, taught Johnson how to corral the speed and natural instincts that sometimes caused him to overrun plays. At one of their first meetings, Robinson played Johnson a video of 30 plays from the 2003 season, half of which showed him making a mistake.
Johnson welcomed the criticism.
"I looked at it as positive," he said. "I didn't need to look at the good plays."
Johnson soaked up everything he could from Robinson. He finished his career with 458 tackles and is set to be the first UT linebacker drafted in the first round since Tommy Nobis was the No. 1 pick by the Atlanta Falcons in 1966.
Scouts love his speed and ability to create turnovers.
NFL.com's draft analysis calls him a "natural leader with exceptional quickness" and says he is "regarded as one of the finest pass defenders to ever play linebacker in the collegiate ranks."
He had 18 tackles in a win over Oklahoma State. On one play he ran about 60 yards to catch a ball carrier, reminding NFL chief draft consultant Gil Brandt of Lawrence Taylor.
"It took me back to the 1970s," Brandt said. "Taylor made the same kind of play."
Yet for all the tussles of "Friday Night Fights" and the big hits under the lights at Royal-Memorial Stadium, some scouts question whether he's willing to take on blocks of a 300-pound guard or tackle.
"Johnson is more of a drag-down tackler than one who will collide on impact," the same NFL.com report reads.
Johnson dismisses that. In his college debut, his first big play came when he smashed through a blocker and broke up a screen pass.
"I blew up some lineman to make the tackle," he said. "They've got to nitpick something. The old saying is 'The higher you are on the ladder, the more people will see you and say things about you."
Most of what they're saying is good. Very good.
link:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/wire?section=nfl&id=2042530
Associated Press
National Football League News Wire
AUSTIN, Texas -- The sniffly 9-year-old begged his mother not to make him get out of the car.
"Don't make me go, Mama," Derrick Johnson cried while tugging his mother's skirt. "I don't want to play football."
Beverly Johnson was having none of that: "Stop acting like a little girl!" she said. "You're going."
So he did, trudging across the practice field on a walk that eventually led to stardom as a linebacker at the University of Texas. Now considered one of the best players to ever wear the burnt orange, Johnson is projected to be one of the first defensive players selected Saturday in the NFL draft.
The Nagurski and Butkus awards winner who set an NCAA record with nine forced fumbles last season, he can laugh now about his wimpy beginning.
"I didn't like the coach. He was always yelling. I wasn't used to that," Johnson said. "It turned out pretty good."
Added Beverly Johnson: "It took him about three or four times before he realized the coach wasn't going to chew him up and spit him out."
Once he got over the coaching thing, it was clear her son was faster and more physical than the other kids.
"Football is in his blood," said older brother Dwight Johnson, who was a defensive tackle at Baylor and played with the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. "We trained him like a pit bull to have a killer instinct."
Dwight Johnson said Derrick always was a scrapper. When Derrick was about 2, his brother would take him for walks around the neighborhood where a friend had a little brother about his age. The two older boys would set their brothers to wrestling.
"They'd be slamming each other down," Dwight said. "Mama would ask later, 'What are all those scratches on my baby's face?"
Before long, the Johnson brothers were staging "Friday Night Fights" in the yard to toughen up Derrick. Derrick would strap on gloves and duke it out with other kids. Dwight Johnson said the fights never got vicious, but there was more than one split lip.
"We were just country boys," having fun, he said. "Derrick would be this little boy with these big old gloves on."
A skinny kid in middle school and high school -- his brothers used to eat food off his plate -- Johnson quickly grew up to lay big hits on his opponents.
By his senior year at Waco High School, he was a prep All-American and his speed and knack for making the big play quickly earned him a spot on the field at Texas as a freshman. As a junior, he was projected as a first-round draft pick, but was having too much fun to leave college early.
Instead, he spent his final season learning from Greg Robinson, who spent a year as the Longhorns' defensive co-coordinator before becoming the head coach at Syracuse.
Robinson, who coached 14 seasons in the NFL, taught Johnson how to corral the speed and natural instincts that sometimes caused him to overrun plays. At one of their first meetings, Robinson played Johnson a video of 30 plays from the 2003 season, half of which showed him making a mistake.
Johnson welcomed the criticism.
"I looked at it as positive," he said. "I didn't need to look at the good plays."
Johnson soaked up everything he could from Robinson. He finished his career with 458 tackles and is set to be the first UT linebacker drafted in the first round since Tommy Nobis was the No. 1 pick by the Atlanta Falcons in 1966.
Scouts love his speed and ability to create turnovers.
NFL.com's draft analysis calls him a "natural leader with exceptional quickness" and says he is "regarded as one of the finest pass defenders to ever play linebacker in the collegiate ranks."
He had 18 tackles in a win over Oklahoma State. On one play he ran about 60 yards to catch a ball carrier, reminding NFL chief draft consultant Gil Brandt of Lawrence Taylor.
"It took me back to the 1970s," Brandt said. "Taylor made the same kind of play."
Yet for all the tussles of "Friday Night Fights" and the big hits under the lights at Royal-Memorial Stadium, some scouts question whether he's willing to take on blocks of a 300-pound guard or tackle.
"Johnson is more of a drag-down tackler than one who will collide on impact," the same NFL.com report reads.
Johnson dismisses that. In his college debut, his first big play came when he smashed through a blocker and broke up a screen pass.
"I blew up some lineman to make the tackle," he said. "They've got to nitpick something. The old saying is 'The higher you are on the ladder, the more people will see you and say things about you."
Most of what they're saying is good. Very good.
