Four years later, Johnson knows he chose correctly

George Johnson was supposed to be a Cavalier. Upon finishing his career at Glassboro High School in South Jersey, the highly-touted recruit was set to head south and become a member of the University of Virginia football program.
But after an admissions issue derailed his hopes of playing football in Charlottesville, Johnson found his plan B just an hour up the Parkway from home. He signed on to play for the Rutgers football team and arrived as a freshman in 2006. Nearly four seasons later, the senior defensive end wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“My experience here has been completely different than I thought it would be,” he said. “I didn’t think the team would be as tight as it turned out.”
It didn’t take long for Johnson to feel at home and put his past plans behind him.
“Once I realized the team had such a special bond, I really began to enjoy it,” he said. “It made me feel a lot better about my decision to come to Rutgers.”
Johnson’s first year with the Scarlet Knights was the program’s breakout season. The team climbed as high as sixth in the Bowl Championship Series standings and much of the credit was owed to the outstanding defensive unit. Surrounded by standouts like Eric Foster, Ramel Meekins and Jamaal Westerman on the defensive line, Johnson was able to learn from some of the most productive players to ever put on a Knights uniform.
“When I was in high school I didn’t think you needed passion to play well, I thought you just had to have athletic ability,” he said. “Seeing the passion that those older guys brought into every meeting, every practice and every game taught me a lot.”
The 2007 season saw Johnson move into a starting role in the Knights’ defensive rotation, contributing 39 tackles and four sacks in his first extensive action. As a junior in 2008, Johnson racked up 39 tackles for a second time.
But over those few years, Johnson experienced problems with his back that tested his fortitude.
“My back issues made me think that I wasn’t going to be as effective as I was [before the injury]. I was worried that it might keep me from playing,” he said. “It made me appreciate my athletic ability so much more because it could have easily been taken away from me. Thank God it wasn’t.”
Johnson was able to fight through the setback and has enjoyed the best season of his career this fall, tallying six and half sacks up to this point. He leads all defensive linemen with 40 total tackles.
“He’s a great player. His talent is unbelievable and when he’s out there on the field he’s someone you feel comfortable next to,” said senior linebacker Ryan D’Imperio.
As a senior starter, Johnson has grown into his newfound — albeit unexpected — leadership role off the field this year.
“I didn’t really think about becoming a very big leader until the younger players started coming to me for advice,” he said with a laugh. “I tell these guys to play passionate and to always go their hardest on defense when coach asks them to do something.”
Surprisingly, Johnson’s favorite moment as a Knight came from the offensive side of the ball.
“Timmy Brown’s game-winning touchdown against Connecticut has to be the most memorable moment for me,” he said. “I’ve never been a part of something like that. It was really amazing and was a special game for the whole team.” 

• Facebook Comments
• Site Comments

Be the first to comment on this article!

Add comment


I am not posting spam. I understand posting spam or other comments that are unrelated to this article will cause my comment to be flagged for deletion and possibly cause my IP address to be permanently banned from this server.

Enter the characters in the image above:

log out