OSU ON SUNDAY
TODAY: FULLBACKS
Saturday, December 5, 2009
By BY RAY STEIN
PETE JOHNSON
Each week, Gameday+ examines Ohio State's impact on professional football with a position-by-position analysis of the Buckeyes who have made a mark in the NFL:
It's a shame what has become of the fullback in modern football. Youngsters, there was a time when a team's fullback wasn't merely a behemoth with a name like Kleinsasser and duties that included 98.8 percent blocking and 1.2 percent running and receiving. Time was a fullback, especially a former Buckeye, could make something happen with the ball in his hands.
The best
Pete Johnson
College life
Born in Fort Valley, Ga., Johnson moved to Long Beach, N.Y., as a high school senior and was recruited by coach Woody Hayes. He contributed as a freshman in 1973 after Champ Henson was injured, and became a fixture at fullback the next three seasons. While Archie Griffin gained the glory and the Heisman trophies, Johnson picked up the hard yards and the touchdowns. He left OSU with 56 TDs, still a record, and holds the season mark of 26, set in 1975. He also rushed for 2,308 yards.
Path to the pros
When the Cincinnati Bengals selected Johnson in the second round of the 1977 NFL draft, he was reunited with Griffin, whom the Bengals selected the year before.
NFL career
Johnson continued his touchdown-making days in the NFL, crossing the goal line 82 times in his 110-game career (seven years with the Bengals and a final season split between San Diego and Miami). But Johnson did more than score touchdowns. He averaged 774 yards rushing per season in his time with Cincinnati, including a 1,077-yard campaign in his only Pro Bowl season, 1981. In the playoffs that season, he had 80 yards and a TD in the Freezer Bowl win over San Diego, but he was limited to 36 yards in a Super Bowl loss to the 49ers.
Little-known facts
According to a 1982 Sports Illustrated story, Johnson played six seasons of high school football, starting when he was in seventh grade in Georgia. Johnson also told the magazine that his coach at Peach County High School would have players block an idling pickup with tires strapped to the grill, and that sometimes the coach would pop the clutch so the truck could block back. This one we believe: Johnson's thighs in his professional heyday measured 29 inches.