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Tampa athlete is Rhodes scholar

Garrett Johnson, an FSU graduate, joins a select group known for service and ambition.

By RICK GERSHMAN and BRIAN LANDMAN
Published November 21, 2005

	[AP photo]
	Garrett Johnson, shown here competing in a track and field event in Tallahassee, is Florida State's first Rhodes Scholar in 30 years.

TAMPA - He graduated magna cum laude from Florida State University. He's an All-American - academic and athletic. He works as a part-time aide to Gov. Jeb Bush.

And he's only 22.

Saturday, Garrett Johnson earned his most prestigious honor to date.

He is a Rhodes Scholar.

The 2002 Tampa Baptist Academy graduate was one of 32 Americans selected from a field of 903 collegiately-endorsed applicants for the 2006 Rhodes Scholarship.

Winners are selected based on high academic achievement, personal integrity, leadership potential and physical vigor, among other attributes.

Johnson learned of the honor Saturday afternoon.

"I was completely overwhelmed, and it still hasn't totally sunk in yet," he said Sunday. "I'm trying to take it all in."

The scholarship will take Johnson to Oxford, where his class will enroll in October 2006. It is the world's oldest English-language university.

Johnson, one of the nation's top shot put and discus throwers, said he has been out of the United States only twice. He went to Barbados with the national track and field team to prepare for the Pan Am Games, and he has been to Haiti.

"I did some volunteer work there a couple of summers ago," Johnson said. "This will be a completely new adventure."

Florida State planned to hold a news conference today to commemorate its first Rhodes scholar in 28 years. Caroline Alexander, a 1976 Florida State graduate, was selected in 1977. That was the first year women were included in the scholarship.

Johnson graduated from Florida State this year with a joint degree in political science and English literature. He plans to pursue a master's degree in development studies, a two-year program, in England.

Florida State track and field coach Bob Braman, who recruited Johnson to Tallahassee over several Ivy League schools, apparently will lose his star athlete for the 2006 season. Johnson is ranked among the world's top 25 shot put throwers and has one year of eligibility remaining.

"All the years I've been in sports as an athlete and a coach, close to 30 years collegiately, I've never seen anybody like him," Braman said. "The guy's special. He's got presence. He's just a motivator. He motivates other people to do good things."

Well-known Rhodes scholars from the U.S. include former President Bill Clinton, former basketball star and Sen. Bill Bradley, author and social critic Naomi Wolf, former Gen. Wesley Clark, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Penn Warren, musician Kris Kristofferson and Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

Johnson works as a legislative assistant in the governor's office, researching questions posed by constituents and serving on several committees, including the governor's Haiti Advisory Council.

"He is a true public servant," Bush spokeswoman Deena Reppen said Sunday. "He's always seeking ways to give back to the community and the less fortunate."

At one time, Johnson was the one in need. After winning the Atlantic Coast Conference shot put championship as a freshman, he grew ill in fall 2003. Doctors discovered blood clots in his right leg that were ominously traveling to his lungs.

Johnson spent 10 days in Tampa's University Community Hospital, fighting a potentially life-threatening condition. In the months that followed, his weight fell from 280 to 235. His foot swelled so much that he spent some time in a wheelchair, even longer on crutches.

But Johnson, who continued to earn Dean's List and President's List honors with his academics, eventually regained his health and became an even better athlete.

Braman, his track and field coach, said Johnson has Olympic-level athletic ability, but that's nothing compared to his heart.

"He's dedicated his life to doing great things," Braman said. "He's a special athlete and an even more special person. I've never been around anybody like him."

--Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Rick Gershman can be reached at rgershman@sptimes.com or 813 226-3431.

[Last modified November 21, 2005, 01:05:18]