Carlos Johnson Never Had the Chance
Mick Cornett
Friday April 28, 2000
As an athlete, Carlos Johnson had genetics on his side. His father Andre played defensive back in the NFL for the New York Giants and New York Jets and he also played in the Canadian Football League and the now-defunct USFL.
Growing up, Carlos Johnson was a star football player from the very beginning. He was a high school All-American wide-receiver in Arlington, Texas and once scored five touchdowns in a single game. He was also an All-American at Tyler Junior College catching 80 passes for over 1300 yards during his sophomore season. He moved to the next level and starred for Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee where he led his team in catches and receiving yardage. How good of an athlete was Carlos Johnson? Let’s put it this way, football wasn’t his best sport.
Carlos Johnson once long-jumped 26 feet 8 inches. To put that in perspective, he would have won every Olympic Gold Medal handed out before 1968. 26’8” is big-time. Jesse Owens held the world record for over 30 years and he never jumped that far.
So why did the Minnesota Vikings tell him he wasn’t good enough? Why did the Toronto Argonauts let him go after a brief tryout? Why did the Orlando Predators of the Arena Football League keep him on their practice squad for two years and never let him play in a game? And why did Bob Cortese almost make the same mistake?
“He came to us in Portland last year,” Cortese says recalling his first impression of Carlos Johnson. “And we instantly knew he was good. But we didn’t know if we gave him the same amount of reps (repetitions) as the other guys if [he] could be better than them. And now I look at him, and I wouldn’t trade him for anybody in the league.”
Last season in Portland, Johnson caught 20 passes and scored five touchdowns. This season, in his first two games with the Oklahoma Wranglers, he caught 21 passes and scored seven touchdowns. For week two, he was named the AFL’s Most Valuable Player. It took four years, but pro coaches can no longer doubt Carlos Johnson.
“We always questioned his toughness,” Cortese recalls, “but after watching him play last week, I’ll never question his toughness again.”
Carlos Johnson and the Wranglers will be back in the Myriad Friday (May 5) night to play against Los Angeles.
Mick Cornett was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2001.
