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Perfect fit

The Bucs needed accuracy. The Bucs needed a hard worker. The Bucs needed a leader. In Brad Johnson, they got all that - and more.

By RICK STROUD

© St. Petersburg Times,
published September 7, 2001

[Times photo: James Borchuck] Johnson does not have great arm strength or mobility, but his competitiveness and burning desire to win prompted the Bucs to sign him.

TAMPA -- Brad Johnson has always been one of the most prepared quarterbacks in the NFL. But this time he was caught with his pants down.

One afternoon following high school football practice in Black Mountain, N.C., Johnson, then a junior, drove by a local outdoor basketball playground. A game was on, so Johnson had to stop. But when he checked the car for shorts, he found none.

So he took off his jeans and played in his underwear.

In public.

"He couldn't stop. He had to pull over. But that was him. He just couldn't resist the game," said Al Ellis, 30, a former football and basketball teammate of Johnson's at Owen High. "There he was, in his underwear, balling with all the guys. People are passing by and looking at him.

"We first thought he was going to come out here and shoot a couple of jumpers. Then we realized he was ready to play. We were like, "Man, come on, you're serious?' He was like, "What? Ball up. I'm here to ball.' But that's him. He was so furiously competitive, he couldn't pass by without stopping to play and it didn't matter that he didn't have shorts. He couldn't care less who saw him playing in his drawers."

[Times photo: Joseph Garnett Jr.] Bucs fans have welcomed Johnson with open arms, despite the success of his predecessor, Shaun King.

Johnson confirms that the story of the boxer rebellion is the nearly-naked truth.

"Ahh, man, I can't believe they told you about that one. I never thought that one would come out," said Johnson. "Look, I had to go out and so I couldn't play in my jeans, could I? I had to play. Had to play. I couldn't say no. We always played. I think the biggest thing was that if there was a game, anywhere, I wanted to be involved in the game. So we just played."

Johnson, the Bucs' free-agent quarterback who will turn 33 on Sept. 13, may not startle anyone with his arm strength or mobility, and he's so refreshingly everyman that you are sure he takes his pants off one leg at a time.

But his competitiveness and burning desire to find a way to win are what prompted the Bucs to sign him to a five-year, $28-million contract, one that will put $12.75-million in his pocket the first two years.

Johnson comes with some impressive credentials. His 61.8 career completion percentage ranks third in NFL history behind only Steve Young and Joe Montana. By comparison last season, with Shaun King under center, the Bucs completed 54.7 percent of their passes.

That's why Johnson represents the perfect quarterback to manage the Bucs' ball-control scheme under Tony Dungy.

"There's a big difference between going 17-for-30 and 19-for-30," Johnson said. "Those two completions might be two more first downs or another 40 yards of offense that extends drives and leads to field goals or touchdowns that win games. You'd be surprised how much it adds up."

But Johnson arrived at Tampa International Airport with plenty of baggage. He has missed 16 games due to injury since 1997, perhaps a testament to bad luck as much as a lack of durability. In fact, in his 10-year career, the first four seasons of it spent on the bench at Minnesota, Johnson has averaged 5.5 starts per year.

His last full season was in 1999, when he was traded from the Vikings to the Redskins and came off knee surgery to pass for a career-high 4,004 yards and 24 touchdowns while leading Washington to an NFC wild card playoff game that he lost to the Bucs.

Deep-rooted respect The laid-back residents of tiny Black Mountain, N.C., revere Brad Johnson, their hometown hero, as much for his off-field demeanor as his on-field success.

Last year, with Super Bowl expectations buzzing the nation's capital, Johnson and the Redskins were 6-2 and leading the NFC East at the midway point in the season.

But a knee injury forced Johnson to miss four games and most of a fifth in what became one of the bigger collapses in NFL history. The Redskins finished 8-8, coach Norv Turner was fired and the team finished out of the playoffs and in turmoil.

"Last year was total chaos within the whole organization, and we just didn't play well," Johnson said. "As bad as it was, I was 7-4 as a starter for an 8-8 team and got labeled ... I didn't get enough credit for winning seven games."

It wasn't the first time Johnson had been sidelined by injuries. Over the course of two seasons after taking over for Warren Moon in Minnesota in 1996, Johnson suffered neck, leg and thumb injuries that sidelined him just when things were starting to go well.

"This is a tough game, and injuries happen," Johnson said. "I've definitely had more than my share."

Known for his grueling workout regimen, Johnson is sensitive about being labeled injury-prone.

"That really annoys me. He's not injury prone, those are just accidents," said Ellen Johnson, Brad's mother. "People can write whatever they want to, but that's a poor rap on him. Look, you can't tell me that other quarterbacks in the league don't get hurt. It's the nature of the game. Brad has learned that once you get hit, you can't run around and worry about it. You have to get back up, get it taken care of so you can get back on the field. If an injury happens, you deal with it and you move on."

Thats's exactly what Johnson did when he arrived in Washington, earning a spot in the Pro Bowl on an NFC team coached by Tony Dungy and the Bucs staff.

[Times photo: Ken Helle] New offensive coordinator Clyde Christensen, right, and the rest of the Bucs coaching staff have praised Johnson for his veteran leadership.

"He came and lifted our football team to another level," said San Diego Chargers offensive coordinator Norv Turner, who was Johnson's head coach in Washington. "There weren't many people who thought we could be a good football team, but Brad brought leadership that everybody fed off of."

It's that kind of leadership the Bucs felt their offense has been lacking the past few seasons.

Although Tampa Bay set a club record with 388 points last year, King was inconsistent when it mattered most. On third down, he completed only 49.6 percent of his passes. Last season, playing without a big-play receiver like Keyshawn Johnson, Brad Johnson completed 65.5 percent of his third-down passes.

"It's very rare that you can sign a quarterback who is a Pro Bowl-caliber quarterback and won as many games as Brad has," Bucs general manager Rich McKay said of Johnson, who has a 32-18 regular-season record. "It's also important to us the fit that Brad has with our football team, with our head coach and with our players."

Dungy spent four years as the Vikings defensive coordinator with Johnson. And guard Randall McDaniel and center Jeff Christy, who arrived from Minnesota a year ago, are close friends.

"He is an ultimate professional, a guy who is going to work and be prepared," said Dungy, who was impressed by Johnson's work as the scout team quarterback against his Vikings defenses. "Plus, he's a physically and mentally tough guy who brings a lot to the table in that way. He prepared for that job as if he was preparing to be a starter. That always impressed me."

Of all the quarterbacks Dungy has had, Johnson would seem to be best suited for his philosophy -- a high-percentage passer who is careful with the ball with an ability to make good reads and check down to receivers.

But for all the accuracy that Johnson has exhibited, the rap has been that he is too cautious at times and afraid to take chances down the field.

[Times photo: James Borchuck] Johnson, who will turn 33 on Sept. 13, signed a five-year, $28-million contract with Tampa Bay this offseason.

Johnson's completion percentage is padded by a lot of short throws. He had only 11 completions of 25 yards or more last season. Dolphins quarterback Jay Fiedler, not considered a big-play passer, had 20.

"Brad's intangibles just cannot be overrated," the Bucs' McKay said. "We will take full advantage of his maturity and his leadership. We tried to develop a quarterback from the ground up in Trent Dilfer and then Shaun King in 1999, and that's a very hard thing to do. We like Shaun. He's going to be a good player. But we're trying to win a championship."

"It's easy to point to the quarterback, but this is the first time they've had a veteran," Johnson said. "I think I've come in at a good time. They set a franchise record for points scored last year. But they had six games plus the first-round playoff loss at Philadelphia with 17 points or less. Hopefully, I'll bring a consistency level. Maybe we won't score as many points, but we'll play at a higher level every week.

"I think my best attribute is consistency. It's being prepared. I don't think I'm ever going to amaze people with my arm strength by throwing it 80 yards or run around like Kordell Stewart. My strength is to get the ball out of my hands and make plays and kind of keep everyone on the same page."

What excites Johnson is how the cast he is surrounded with in Tampa Bay fits his skills. Running back Warrick Dunn and fullback Mike Alstott can make big plays in the passing game and each has led the team in receiving, but their skills haven't been fully utilized.

Johnson possesses an almost innate ability to check down to his running backs, and more important, he hits them on stride so they can make yards after the catch.

"I've never played with guys like that," Johnson said of Dunn and Alstott. "I've played with Stephen Davis, who is a runner. Larry Centers was a pass receiver. Robert Smith was a runner. And those guys are all great, they're all Pro Bowl players. But these guys are different in the fact that they can actually play receiver. You can move them out, put them in the slot, get mismatches with your regular personnel. They (opponents) don't know if you're in your five wide because of those two guys.

"You want to make big, big plays. But in a game, you're looking at making three, maybe four plays of over 20 yards. So that means the game is really played underneath. Getting those guys the ball as many times as possible, you get a lot of mismatches."

What appears to be a perfect match is Johnson and the Bucs. Tampa Bay needed a quarterback to take them to the Super Bowl. Johnson needed a system and a supporting cast that would allow him to do just that.

"My dad always told me, since college, it's better to be prepared and not have an opportunity than to have an opportunity and not be prepared," said Johnson. "I played very little in college, didn't play my first three years in the pros, and maybe I wasn't ready at that time. But when I got my chance, I came through. I feel like I've played winning football.

"I had a couple injuries that took some time away from me, but I can only control what I've done on the field and I think I've been very successful. But until you win the whole thing, that's what it's all about."

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