Behind-the-Boards Reporter Lewis Johnson
Mary-Ann Williams
Friday January 31, 2003
“I’ve officially changed my title as of Sunday,” said the veteran sports reporter. “I am no longer a Sideline Reporter. I am now officially a Behind-the-Boards reporter. I was taping a segment when someone grabbed me by the collar of my shirt and dragged me off the field before someone hit me!”
After covering Notre Dame football games, Johnson should be used to being in the mix with football players, but things are a little different in the AFL. There are no sidelines to separate the players from the reporters… or the fans for that matter.
“One of the most interesting apects of this game will be the close proximity of the fans to the field,” said Johnson. “I’m interested to see how the fans who’ve never come before react to having a ball fly into the stands, or having a player land on their laps.”
So Johnson stepped off the field and into the somewhat-safer stands where he noticed a remarkable thing. Two fans had approached a player for an autograph, which the player gladly gave. He stood on the bench and reached over the glass enclosure, ignoring the game going on behind him.
“That’s something I’ve never seen,” said Johnson. “A player giving an autograph during a game. That’s just remarkable. It’s up to me to see those things and try to get it on the air to talk about it.”
To Johnson, his job is about telling those stories. He prefers to leave the Xs and Ox to the men in the booth. From reporting breaking news during the 2000 Sydney Olympics to a moving segment on speed skater Derek Parra’s visit to his former employer Home Depot during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, Johnson has won recognition for his ability to find the story behind the athletes. And he’s dedicated to finding the stories of the AFL.
“One of the things that we do at NBC is the storytelling,” said Johnson. “I think that’s what we do well. I know a lot of people will want to hear about the AFL-NFL connections, but there are a lot of great Arena stories that stand on their own.
“There’s one player that played in the AFL, went on and signed a contract with the NFL. After he got there, he turned the contract in and said, ‘This isn’t for me,’ and went back to the AFL. That’s a great story! It’s a story that should be told. And that’ll be a challenge because the game is going 1000 miles per hour.”
Die-hard AFL fans will be glad to hear where Johnson’s priorities lay. Since signing on with NBC, a fear has settled into the ranks of those fans as they waited to hear what changes would come to their beloved league. Johnson understands those fears, but feels that the positives that come from an NBC-AFL marriage will outweigh the negatives.
“I think within our lives, change is a constant,” said Johnson. “I think it requires patience on everyone’s part. We’re starting something new in terms of covering the AFL, but we’re not new at covering sports. I think if everybody can be patient and give us some time, I think it will work out fine.”
Those aren’t just platitudes, either. Johnson learned the hard way that change may not be easy, but the rewards can be great.
During a seven-year career on the international track and field circuit, Johnson competed in the 1988 and 1992 Olympic Trials, only to fall just short of the goal. Since he couldn’t compete as a runner on the track, he offered those services to ABC Sports in 1993, doing whatever they asked of him to get a foot in the door. From a foot to a face, Johnson received his first chance on the air on Turner Sports in 1994 at the Goodwill Games in Russia. Since then, his career has moved steadily up, thanks to his hard work and dedication to telling the athletes’ stories. That work ethic should benefit the AFL’s new start.
“When you’re trying to take something to another level, change is going to be part of it,” said Johnson. “There are going to be some things that someone loves and some things that someone hates. We are trying to move that product to another level and we want to be successful at that. If the fans can just keep that in mind, I think it’ll all be okay.”
As the new season opens and NBC offers the nation a fresh look at a proven sport, AFL’s hopes cling to a successful transition to national television broadcasting from relative obscurity. Part of the responsibility of that success rests on the shoulders of the men with the mikes. Thankfully, this one, at least, understands that.
Mary-Ann Williams lives in Chicagoland with her four children, Carter, Jackson, Jeremy, and Riley Jade. As a freelance writer, she`s written articles for the Associated Press, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel and the Daily Herald. She also serves as editor of the AFL-side of Arenafan Online, and covers the Chicago Rush.
