Richmond’s Roy Johnson—A Story of Perseverance
David Chappell
Wednesday April 30, 2003
Commenting on Johnson’s play immediately after the Speed’s victory over Norfolk on Saturday, Speed head coach Richard Davis said, “Roy Johnson--what a game. Roy’s the story. That’s a story of hanging in; that’s a story of perseverance.”
To be sure, Johnson’s road to being the starting quarterback for the Richmond Speed has had its share of sharp curves and detours.
A native of Atlanta, Johnson’s excellence in football started to show itself early on at Redan High School in Stone Mountain, Georgia. As a senior at Redan in 1995, Johnson received All-County and All-Metro honors for his outstanding play.
Johnson’s initial athletic journey outside of Atlanta took him to within about 80 miles of Richmond, when he decided to attend Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia. For four seasons, from 1996-1999, Johnson quarterbacked the Hampton Pirates and amassed a number of impressive statistics and accomplishments.
During his career at Hampton University, Johnson threw for a total of 7, 086 passing yards, and he rushed for 470 more. In his first year playing for the Pirates, Johnson was runner-up for the 1996 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Rookie of the Year award. In 1997 and 1998, Hampton won back-to-back MEAC championships under Johnson’s leadership. On December 18, 1999, in his last game with Hampton, Johnson led the Pirates to a convincing 24-3 win over Southern University in the Heritage Bowl. While at Hampton University, Johnson also served as a co-captain for the Pirates and earned Honorable Mention All-MEAC honors.
After college, Johnson’s football playing days would not be over. And it appeared initially that Johnson would get his first break in pro football in 2001 with the newly formed XFL, rather than in arena football. Johnson believed he was going to be picked up by the XFL’s Las Vegas Outlaws, but ultimately that opportunity never materialized. While the XFL folded after one season, Johnson’s career path would take him briefly back to Georgia, this time to arenafootball2.
Johnson returned to Atlanta and continued to work out and stay in shape, and ended up on the Macon Knight’s training camp roster in 2001. According to Johnson, soon thereafter then Roanoke Steam head coach Steven Jerry brought Johnson to Roanoke to be his starting quarterback for the 2001 season. Johnson said, “I didn’t start the first two games, and actually my first start was against Richmond at Richmond and we ended up losing 63-35 or something like that. Then I started two more games, but then [Roanoke] moved me to receiver and Al Clark played the rest of the season at quarterback and I played receiver.”
2002 saw Johnson start the af2 season in Roanoke again playing receiver and defensive back. Early last year, Johnson was traded by Roanoke to the Norfolk Nighthawks where Johnson would play quarterback again, if only for a few games. Johnson explained, “Norfolk needed a quarterback because both their quarterbacks got knocked out the first week by (then Cape Fear defensive lineman) E.J. Burt so they needed me down there as a quarterback. I played for [Norfolk] for four games, and then they released me.” According to Johnson, his departure from Norfolk was not under the happiest of terms.
Johnson said he was gratified to be picked up be the Speed after his release by Norfolk last year. “I was happy to get in Richmond, because I knew the year before they had gone to the Arena Cup, and I knew they pretty much had the same team coming back and I knew we had the opportunity to win a championship.”
Despite the fact that he played sparingly and threw only seven passes last year as a backup quarterback to Bob Bees, Johnson says the experience in Richmond during the second half of last year was a beneficial one for him. “When I got here last year, we were playing for the playoffs. I knew when the playoffs came, I just wanted to ride the wave and watch Bob (Bees) and the other vets do their job and do what I could to help us win and hopefully get a ring. Unfortunately things didn’t work out for us in the playoffs, but I really enjoyed being here last year.”
Johnson remarked that there was quite a difference in playing for the Speed, a team he had played against often and typically a team that got the best of his squads as an opposing player. “It was great learning from Bob Bees and learning from Coach Davis and watching those guys play and coach; it was amazing seeing them live and in color when you were not against them but with them. I grew up a lot last year.”
Even though Johnson’s experience with the Speed last year was a good one, he was torn as to whether or not to return to professional football for the 2003 af2 season. Back in metro Atlanta, Johnson was teaching at his alma mater, Redan High School, as a resource teacher and he was also coaching football and girl’s basketball. Ultimately, the coaching part of his duties at Redan is what brought Johnson back to the Speed for another year.
Johnson said that “the fire” of athletic competition has now translated to him as a coach as well as a player, even though the two manifest themselves in different ways. Johnson explained, “Coaching is what I really like doing. When I’m finished playing and don’t want to play anymore, coaching is definitely what I want to do. I’ve learned that coaching gives you that fire even on the sidelines; it’s a different aspect being more mental rather than being out there playing. You mentally want to prepare your team, and put them in the right spots so that you can win at the end of the day.”
But as the 2003 af2 season approached, Johnson’s experiences as a coach pushed him to want to experience “the fire” at least one more year as a player as well. Johnson said, “The fire started burning and I had to give [playing] another chance. This might be the year for me to take it up a notch and move up to Arena1. But if it doesn’t happen, at least I tried. I didn’t want to not try. I’ve enjoyed my three years in arena2, and it is professional football and the professionalism is there and you still learn and work like a professional. No matter what happens, I can always say I’ve played professional football and enjoy it as that.”
Coming into this year’s training camp, Johnson said he was given a fair shot to win the Speed’s starting quarterback position. Despite Johnson being a veteran with af2 starting quarterback experience, the Richmond starting nod went to rookie Joel Gordon. Johnson says he and Gordon are friends and have a great relationship, and that the competition in camp between them was beneficial to both of them. Johnson noted, “Joel had a heck of a camp. He came in and he was on fire. He was hitting everything and he was learning quickly. He did everything that Coach asked of him. I wasn’t mad, I don’t think either one of us lost the competition, Joel just did a great job.”
When Gordon was injured in the Speed’s season opener after playing so well, Johnson said the injury was a major blow to the team. And with the unfortunate injury to Gordon, Johnson knew he was the man on the spot. Johnson commented, “I just wanted to try to help the team stay on a course where we can still win so that when [Gordon] does come back everybody will be comfortable. When he comes back, it’s still going to be a team situation. Whatever happens in terms of whether I’m staying in as the starter, or if Joel plays, we’re going to continue to win. The whole objective is to win games, and I just want to try to do my best for the team. In this league, you definitely need two quarterbacks.”
As shown in his play in the vitally important comeback win against Norfolk, Johnson’s coolness under fire may well be his most impressive attribute as a quarterback. The ebbs and flows in arena football demand someone who can handle all the highs and lows that invariably occur during the course of a game. Johnson says, “Being calm under pressure is key. You try to stay on an even keel throughout the game. We might be down, but we can always come back. There’s no game where you’re out of it unless they’re all zeros on the clock.”
Coach Davis knows the long road that Johnson has traveled to become the Richmond Speed’s starting quarterback, and believes the perseverance paid off with a superb effort against Norfolk. Davis said, “I couldn’t be happier for Roy, in his first real opportunity to show up as a starter. He performed extraordinarily. Against a good Norfolk team, Roy really only missed two balls all night long, and that’s saying something. He was also well prepared; he came in and did his homework.”
In addition to his good size (6’1” 210 pounds) and quickness, Davis also believes that Johnson’s presence on the field is perhaps his best quality as a quarterback. “Roy always shows a pocket presence, a little bit of coolness. Roy’s a solid guy.” Davis said that the challenge for Johnson is now to put together back-to-back outstanding games as a starter. Davis feels Johnson will be up for the challenge. “What Roy gets to learn now is that the challenge of pro football is not playing well one time, it’s playing well every week. Do I think Roy can handle it? Yeah, I do.”
The Speed’s upcoming opponent on the road Friday night, the Atlantic Division leading Greensboro Prowlers, figure to challenge Johnson on several levels. “Greatly improved,” is how Davis characterizes the 3-1 Prowlers. Much of that improvement is on the defensive side of the ball, where Davis calls Greensboro “talented and very physically gifted.” As for the Prowlers’ pass rush, Davis says, “They can bring the heat.” Davis believes the key to the matchup with the Prowlers is Roy Johnson. “It comes down to whether Roy can put two games back to back.”
In addition to facing an impressive Greensboro pass rush Friday night, Johnson will also be facing his old Roanoke coach Steven Jerry, who is now the headman in Greensboro. Any extra incentive for Johnson? The Richmond quarterback says his focus is on beating the Greensboro Prowlers. “They look big, and they rush hard off the ends, but Coach Davis is going to put in a game plan that will really help us out and I think we’re going to go in there and make plays again this week. I think we’re going to come out on top. As for coach Jerry, we left on good terms. We still talk all the time during the off-season. We’ll probably talk before the game, but I do want to beat him. And I hope that things work out this weekend for us.”
Regardless of how the rest of the 2003 Richmond Speed season unfolds, Johnson is enjoying his stint as Richmond’s starting quarterback and playing with this year’s edition of the Speed. Johnson said, “I’m just an average man that’s trying to follow a dream. My dream is to play professional football, whether it’s in af2 or the NFL. I’m having fun with this dream, this opportunity. I’m having fun with my teammates and being in Richmond. I’m just thankful for the opportunity that I was given, and I’m just hoping that maybe things will work out for me. If not, Roy Johnson will be Roy Johnson the teacher, or Roy Johnson the coach.”
The 2003 Richmond Speed are but one chapter in Roy Johnson’s story of perseverance. If the past is any guide, future chapters of this story yet to be written by this 26 year old from Atlanta are sure to be compelling reading.
David Chappell is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He has closely followed local sports in Richmond and vicinity for over thirty years, and Arena Football 2 since its inception. David currently writes extensively for a website that he co-founded which documents professional wrestling in Virginia and surrounding areas from 1974-1986. A former elected prosecutor, David is currently a practicing attorney in a large downtown Richmond law firm.
