The final time quarterback Josh Johnson wore Torero blue — Nov. 17, 2007 — he put five touchdowns on the board, including a 12-yard strike to wide receiver Wes Doyle with 36 seconds remaining in the game, before UC Davis mounted a frenetic drive downfield to score the game-winning touchdown with nine seconds left, to win 49-46.
Nearly 19 years later, Johnson, 40, is still finding the end zone.
This past weekend, Johnson — the NFL’s ultimate journeyman, having now played for a league-record 14 teams — started for the Cincinnati Bengals in their second preseason game, a 27-9 victory over the Chicago Bears. He threw touchdown passes of 17 and 6 yards to rookie wide receiver Colbie Young and tight end Tanner Hudson.
When Johnson was a senior at the University of San Diego, Young was 5 years old. Hudson had just turned 13. And he’s fighting for a spot on the roster with them.
“I think it’s always good to go out there and show you can still make plays. In this business, people want to put labels on you and tags on you — everybody thinks they have the right answers. I might not be able to take it to the house anymore, but I can still make plays, move the chains, win with my mind and allow these guys to be great at what they do — make plays,” Johnson said.
Young, who caught the 17-yard touchdown, credited Johnson with putting the ball exactly where it needed to be.
“It was just a great throw by Josh. He put it right in the breadbasket,” Young said.
Johnson completed 15 of 23 passes for 156 yards in the opening half before giving way to 28-year-old Sean Clifford.
“Josh, I thought, played excellent and finished with a nice touchdown drive at halftime,” Bengals head coach Zac Taylor said. “So, it’s just a good opportunity to get him out. Probably would have played him in the third quarter, but just thought he played real clean.”
Johnson, who is on the roster bubble and competing with Clifford for the third quarterback spot on the active roster behind incumbent Joe Burrow and fellow 40-something Joe Flacco, will learn his fate Sunday when NFL teams must reduce their preseason rosters to 53 players following the third and final preseason game.
“My whole career has kind of been like, ‘You’ve got to get out the mud,’ and it kind of just is what it is. Now I’m just kind of used to it,” Johnson said.
Since entering the NFL in 2008, Johnson has made stops with Tampa Bay, Cleveland, Cincinnati, San Francisco, the New York Jets, Indianapolis, Buffalo, Baltimore, the New York Giants, Houston, Washington, Detroit, Denver and Oakland. His professional career has also taken him through the United Football League, Alliance of American Football and XFL.
On Johnson’s potential place on the roster, Cincy Jungle writer Anthony Cosenza wrote Sunday that Johnson’s play against the Bears helped him.
“Obviously, nobody is suggesting Johnson is going to challenge Joe Burrow for the starting job. But the Bengals brought him back because of his experience, knowledge of NFL offenses and ability to step into a difficult situation if needed. And if Cincinnati is looking for a veteran No. 3 quarterback who can keep the offense functional in an emergency, Johnson’s performance Saturday certainly didn’t hurt his case.”
A career backup, Johnson has started 11 games and holds a 2-9 record, throwing for 2,669 yards with 14 touchdowns against 18 interceptions.
“Now, I’m 40 and I can look back at things I was going through at 22 that are helping me now in how I prepare and understand. The reps might not be there for me, but what are other ways I can still have opportunities to bring a calm to yourself to go out there and play confidently,” Johnson said. “For me, that’s all just gratitude to God because He just kept nudging on me to say, ‘You know, this might be what it is for you,’ but (where) there’s a will, there’s a way.”
Johnson is no stranger to roster battles.
He entered the NFL as the 160th pick in the fifth round of the 2008 draft, becoming the first Torero ever selected, when Tampa Bay drafted him into a quarterback room that included Jeff Garcia, Brian Griese, Luke McCown, Chris Simms, Bruce Gradkowski and Jake Plummer.
“I knew how many quarterbacks they had, but we didn’t even talk about that,” Johnson said at the time. “(Head) Coach (Jon) Gruden just said he wanted me to come in and work and he was real excited to work with me. I’m going to go in there this week and get it going.”
At USD, he completed 724 of 1,065 passes for 9,699 yards and 113 touchdowns against just 15 interceptions. He also rushed for 1,864 yards and 19 touchdowns on 307 carries. A three-year starter, Johnson went 30-4 and led the Toreros to three Pioneer Football League championships and two mid-major national titles, finishing his career with 11,563 yards of total offense.
