I was too young to really have the opportunity to watch him play, but damn do I wish I could have! I was just surfing youtube and randomly came across some of his highlights and wow was this guy a stud. I know he got sick unfortunately, but I wihs things would have worked out for him in the NFL. The article below from the LA Times is a great read as well. Just thought Id share...
ON THE Heisman Sideline : LeShon Johnson, the Nation's Leading Division I-A Rusher, Toils in Obscurity
November 13, 1993|GENE WOJCIECHOWSKI | TIMES STAFF WRITER
DeKALB, Ill. — Etta Johnson still has the letter, the one written by the baby of her family, little LeShon.
He wrote it three years ago, when Etta sometimes couldn't pay the electric bill, or the water bill, or buy enough propane to heat the two-bedroom house in the tiny, no-stoplight town of Haskell, Okla. She was working two jobs at the time, but it never seemed to be enough.
"We were like every poor family," she said from her niece's house in Haskell. "We were trying to make ends meet."
Etta Johnson lives in the country now. She doesn't have a phone, but she has that letter written by her youngest son. Back then, times were tough. Then again, so was LeShon.
"That's the reason why I've got big dreams," he said.
Read the letter in part: \o7 "Pray for me. I'm going to try to make it in football. And if I do, I'm going to build a house for you, Momma."\f7
So now, as LeShon (Cowboy) Johnson plays his final game for Northern Illinois, only one question remains: Ranch, Tudor or split-level, Etta?
No one is quite sure how it happened, but Johnson could finish today's game against Mississippi not only as the nation's leading Division I-A rusher, but as only one of four running backs in collegiate history to gain 2,000 or more yards in a season. The other three: Oklahoma State's Barry Sanders, USC's Marcus Allen and Nebraska's Mike Rozier, all of whom own Heisman trophies.
Johnson needs only 83 yards. A Heisman is probably out of the question--Florida State quarterback Charlie Ward is expected to win easily--but an invitation to New York and the Downtown Athletic Club shouldn't be. Johnson has earned that much.
"I have a sign I keep," Johnson said. "It says, 'Second to None and Still Improving.' I think I'm one of a kind."
Johnson is more than 600 yards ahead of Texas Tech's Byron Morris, the NCAA's No. 2 rusher. He has had 100-yard games against Iowa State, Indiana, Southwestern Louisiana and Louisiana Tech; 200-yard games against Arkansas State, New Mexico State and Pacific; 300-yard games against Southern Illinois, a Division I-AA team, and Iowa.
Along the way, he has picked up his share of endorsements.
"It was like trying to shoot a bull with BBs," Arkansas State Coach John Bobo said of trying to stop Johnson.
"When he ran, he was just like a blur," Iowa Coach Hayden Fry said. "You will probably never see a better running back in (Iowa's) Kinnick Stadium."
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Ed Podolak, whose Kinnick Stadium rushing record was broken last Saturday, told radio listeners at halftime that Johnson was among the nation's best, but certainly not better than Michigan's Tyrone Wheatley. Later, as Johnson neared the 300-yard mark, Podolak rushed back to the microphone.
"Tyrone Wheatley cannot carry LeShon Johnson's jockstrap," he said.
Podolak now believes, but the rest of the country wouldn't know Johnson if his picture were on the front of a Wheaties box. Except for an occasional highlight on ESPN's SportsCenter, Johnson has been a television no-show. Big West Conference member Northern Illinois (4-6) doesn't have a cable TV deal, doesn't play in a high-profile league, isn't going to a postseason bowl and can't even fill its cozy 30,998-seat stadium.
So unknown is Johnson that he often can walk across campus and not be recognized. When a former Northern Illinois player began marketing a "LeShon For Heisman" T-shirt, Johnson was positive the venture was doomed.
"I thought, 'Man, they're going to lose money,' " he said.
Wrong. The $12.95 shirts are collectors' items. To get one, you first have to go on a waiting list.
But outside the farming community of DeKalb, Johnson is rusher \o7 non grata\f7 . America knows Wheatley, San Diego State's Marshall Faulk, Penn State's Ki-Jana Carter.
"He's not going to win the Heisman," said sports information director Mike Korcek, who has been at Northern Illinois since 1966. "I mean, this is not a glamour school. But this \o7 is\f7 a glamour player."
True enough. NFL scouts consider Johnson perhaps the best senior running back available.
"That's the reason I think that if I had gone to any other college in the country, I think I could put up the same number of yards," said Johnson, who rates himself the best runner in the country and the second-best player overall, with Ward first. "Whoever drafts me, it's going to be a good decision they made."
The 6-foot, 202-pound Johnson acknowledges that he isn't the most physically imposing ballcarrier. Too many visits to fast-food joints. "I hate to cook," he said. "I miss my Momma's cooking."
Imposing or not, strange things happen when Johnson gets the ball.
Against Iowa, Hawkeye defensive players warned him that no yard would come easy. Everybody tells him that.
"I don't talk trash," Johnson said. "I just tell them it's just a matter of time."
And it was. Johnson gained 306 yards and scored twice against the Hawkeyes.
how was he in the power department, the clip shows his speed only. just trying to get a context of where he would have been compared to Turner and Wolfe, ignoring the numbers.
(11-09-2012 09:31 PM)huskiealum03 Wrote: how was he in the power department, the clip shows his speed only. just trying to get a context of where he would have been compared to Turner and Wolfe, ignoring the numbers.
He didn't have the power of Turner or the shiftiness of Wolfe. He had great straight line speed. If he had a hole, he would be gone as you saw in the video against Iowa. In the NFL it became evident that he couldn't make tacklers miss, and he couldn't run through them either.
(11-09-2012 09:31 PM)huskiealum03 Wrote: how was he in the power department, the clip shows his speed only. just trying to get a context of where he would have been compared to Turner and Wolfe, ignoring the numbers.
He didn't have the power of Turner or the shiftiness of Wolfe. He had great straight line speed. If he had a hole, he would be gone as you saw in the video against Iowa. In the NFL it became evident that he couldn't make tacklers miss, and he couldn't run through them either.
He did break more tackles than I would've expected from someone that was only around 200 lbs. He didn't go down easy, though he wasn't quite like Turner in that respect. I remember in lots of games the opposing players would take the wrong angle on him, regularly underestimating his speed, I'm sure.
(11-09-2012 09:31 PM)huskiealum03 Wrote: how was he in the power department, the clip shows his speed only. just trying to get a context of where he would have been compared to Turner and Wolfe, ignoring the numbers.
He didn't have the power of Turner or the shiftiness of Wolfe. He had great straight line speed. If he had a hole, he would be gone as you saw in the video against Iowa. In the NFL it became evident that he couldn't make tacklers miss, and he couldn't run through them either.
He was a fairly punishing runner at the college level. That didn't translate to the pros. What he did better than anyone was hit the hole at top speed and didn't get tripped up the way a lot of college backs do.
His gait was also such that he just seemed like he was going so d*mn fast. He probably didn't have Turner, Wolfe, or even AJ Harris' speed, but he looked like he was running balls-*ass out all the time.
Fun guy to watch, and when he was here, it seemed like we were on the verge of getting good again.
We weren't, but he gave us a reason to show up and a chance to win.
I remember hearing Leshon's 40 time was 4.45. I don't know where that was from so take it with grain of salt. But I remember thinking that he seemed faster than that.
LJ had a great combination of size and speed, and it was lots of fun to watch him run. I remember NIU played a game against SIU where LJ could have easily broken a college record and gained over 400 yards in the game, but he was pulled earlier in the 4th out of sympathy.
If only the Huskies of the early nineties had any defense, they could have beat Iowa.
(11-12-2012 04:55 PM)Huskie_Jon Wrote: LJ had a great combination of size and speed, and it was lots of fun to watch him run. I remember NIU played a game against SIU where LJ could have easily broken a college record and gained over 400 yards in the game, but he was pulled earlier in the 4th out of sympathy.
If only the Huskies of the early nineties had any defense, they could have beat Iowa.
I got to that SIU game just a little late and as I walked up to the stadium I heard the crowd roar - Leshon had already taken one to the house. He didn't even have the common courtesy to wait til I got to my seat before busting one.
(11-12-2012 04:55 PM)Huskie_Jon Wrote: LJ had a great combination of size and speed, and it was lots of fun to watch him run. I remember NIU played a game against SIU where LJ could have easily broken a college record and gained over 400 yards in the game, but he was pulled earlier in the 4th out of sympathy.
If only the Huskies of the early nineties had any defense, they could have beat Iowa.
I got to that SIU game just a little late and as I walked up to the stadium I heard the crowd roar - Leshon had already taken one to the house. He didn't even have the common courtesy to wait til I got to my seat before busting one.
The nerve of some people!
It reminds me of when I drove all the way out to Kalamazoo to see the Huskies play the Broncos. I got there just as the game was starting, and before I could even find my seat, Garrett Wolfe scored a TD on like the first play.
(11-12-2012 04:55 PM)Huskie_Jon Wrote: LJ had a great combination of size and speed, and it was lots of fun to watch him run. I remember NIU played a game against SIU where LJ could have easily broken a college record and gained over 400 yards in the game, but he was pulled earlier in the 4th out of sympathy.
If only the Huskies of the early nineties had any defense, they could have beat Iowa.
remember when he went to green bay i believe they discovered he couldn't see and got him fitted with contacts
(11-12-2012 04:55 PM)Huskie_Jon Wrote: LJ had a great combination of size and speed, and it was lots of fun to watch him run. I remember NIU played a game against SIU where LJ could have easily broken a college record and gained over 400 yards in the game, but he was pulled earlier in the 4th out of sympathy.
If only the Huskies of the early nineties had any defense, they could have beat Iowa.
I got to that SIU game just a little late and as I walked up to the stadium I heard the crowd roar - Leshon had already taken one to the house. He didn't even have the common courtesy to wait til I got to my seat before busting one.
The nerve of some people!
It reminds me of when I drove all the way out to Kalamazoo to see the Huskies play the Broncos. I got there just as the game was starting, and before I could even find my seat, Garrett Wolfe scored a TD on like the first play.
LOL, 2004, what a great game! We scored like 50something that day and scored basically at will. They were done after the first play, and I think we got their coach canned if I remember correctly
When Cowboy first came to NIU I picked him up at the airport. He had a gold tooth in and he was all smiles. He looked at me and said none of you Huskies have ever seen someone run the ball like I am going to.
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Blast from the Past - LeShon Johnson
