 Johnson with theCarolina Panthers in 2006 | |||||||||
| No. 19 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Wide receiver | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born | (1972-07-22)July 22, 1972 (age 53) Los Angeles, California, U.S. | ||||||||
| Listed height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||||||||
| Listed weight | 211 lb (96 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school | Susan Miller Dorsey (Los Angeles, California) | ||||||||
| College |
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| NFL draft | 1996: 1st round,1st overall pick | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
| Awards and highlights | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Joseph Keyshawn Johnson (born July 22, 1972) is an American former professionalfootballwide receiver who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons.
He playedcollege football for theUSC Trojans, and earnedAll-American honors twice. He was selectedfirst overall by theNew York Jets in the1996 NFL draft. He also played for theTampa Bay Buccaneers,Dallas Cowboys, andCarolina Panthers. He was one of three wide receivers to be taken first overall in NFL draft history and the most recent. During his tenure with the Buccaneers, Johnson was a member of the team that wonSuper Bowl XXXVII in 2003.
He retired from football following the 2006 season, and spent seven years as a television broadcaster for the sports channelESPN. He was one of the co-hosts of theFS1 weekday morning debate showUndisputed withRichard Sherman,Michael Irvin, andSkip Bayless. He has since joinedPaul Pierce andJoy Taylor to co-host the FS1 weekday showSpeak.[1]
Johnson was born inLos Angeles, California. He attendedPalisades High School for his sophomore and junior years and thenSusan Miller Dorsey High School, also in Los Angeles, for his senior year. Though a standout prospect at football, Johnson's early life was plagued by gang crime and legal troubles. In eighth grade, he spent nine months in a California youth facility after being arrested for possession of marijuana, cocaine, and a concealed handgun.[2] His low SAT scores forced him to start his college football career in community college.
In Johnson's first year atWest Los Angeles College, he lasted just 8 games. Eventually he just stopped showing up for practice. "For years, I was the good kid, but I was curious and it eventually got the best of me," he later wrote. "I started hanging out with the wrong crowd and got myself into trouble."[2] After sitting out the following year to get his affairs in order, Johnson returned to football in 1992, and performed well enough to earn himself a transfer toUniversity of Southern California, where he played for coachJohn Robinson'sUSC Trojans football team in 1994 and 1995. In 1994, he finished with 66 catches for 1,362 yards and 9 touchdowns. In 1995, he finished with 102 catches for 1,434 yards and 7 touchdowns.
As a Trojan, he was twice recognized as anAll-American selection. After the1994 college season, Johnson helped lead the Trojans to a win in the1995 Cotton Bowl Classic, after which he was named the game'sMost Valuable Player. The Trojans then played in the1996 Rose Bowl, during which Johnson caught 12 passes for a Rose Bowl record 216 yards and one touchdown in the Trojans' 41–32 victory over theNorthwestern Wildcats. He was named thePlayer of the Game. He was inducted into theRose Bowl Hall of Fame on December 31, 2008.
While in college, Johnson appeared on the TV showCoach, as a player eligible for draft in the upcoming season. He flatly refused to be recruited to the fictional "Orlando Breakers" team for coach Hayden Fox, stating he would go to Canada to play first. Johnson graduated from USC with a B.A. in social sciences and history in 1997.[3]
| USC Trojans | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | GP | Receiving | ||||||||||||
| Rec | Yds | TD | ||||||||||||
| 1994 | 11 | 66 | 1,362 | 9 | ||||||||||
| 1995 | 12 | 102 | 1,434 | 7 | ||||||||||
| Totals | 31 | 168 | 2,796 | 16 | ||||||||||
| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | 20-yard shuttle | Vertical jump | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 ft3+1⁄4 in (1.91 m) | 220 lb (100 kg) | 33+1⁄2 in (0.85 m) | 10+7⁄8 in (0.28 m) | 4.25 s | 31.5 in (0.80 m) | |||||||
| All values fromNFL Combine[4] | ||||||||||||
TheNew York Jetsdrafted Johnson with the first overall pick in the1996 NFL draft.[5] He was the third wide receiver selected with the number one overall pick, and the first sinceIrving Fryar was chosen by theNew England Patriots in 1984. While in New York, he played three seasons (1997–1999) underBill Parcells, who in two seasons would turnaround the Jets from 1–15 in 1996, Johnson's rookie year, to 9–7 in 1997, and 12–4 in 1998 and the franchise's first everAFC East Division title.
One of his best performances was in a 34–24 win over theJacksonville Jaguars in an AFC divisional playoff game after the 1998 season. In that game, Johnson caught nine passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown, recovered a fumble, and intercepted a pass on defense. The Jets however, fell one game short of the Super Bowl after losing the AFC Championship Game the next week to the Denver Broncos 23–10. Johnson wrote an autobiography with ESPN'sShelley Smith,Just Give Me the Damn Ball. The book covered his rookie year experiences.
Johnson was traded on April 12, 2000, to theTampa Bay Buccaneers for two first round draft choices (13th –John Abraham – and 27th –Anthony Becht – overall) in the2000 NFL draft.[6] Soon after Johnson arrived in Tampa Bay, they signed him to an 8-year, $56 million contract extension with the Buccaneers that made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.[7]
At that time he was joining a team that had fallen one game short of the Super Bowl the previous season. In2002 Johnson went on to win aSuper Bowl with the Buccaneers after the arrival of new head coachJon Gruden, who succeededTony Dungy. Johnson had 76 catches for 1,088 yards and five touchdowns; in the playoffs, he had eight catches for 125 yards and a touchdown against theEagles, then had six grabs for 69 yards in the Super Bowl. However, his bitter relationship with Gruden (illustrated by a video clip of him yelling at Gruden on the sidelines) led to his de-activation for the final 7 games of the 2003 season. The following offseason, he was traded to theDallas Cowboys, where he was reunited with Bill Parcells, his coach while he was with the New York Jets.
On March 19, 2004, theTampa Bay Buccaneers traded him to theDallas Cowboys forJoey Galloway, who the Cowboys had also traded two first round picks to acquire. Reunited with his former coachBill Parcells, Johnson lived up to his advance billing for the Cowboys in 2004, leading the team in receiving yards and tying for the lead in touchdown catches while taking over a leadership role in the locker room and on the field. On March 16, 2006, the Cowboys released Johnson to make room for recently acquired receiverTerrell Owens.[8]
On March 23, 2006, Johnson signed a four-year, $14-million-dollar deal with theCarolina Panthers. Of this, he was guaranteed a $5 million signing bonus. He was expected to play oppositeSteve Smith as the number two receiver.
During the Carolina Panthers'Monday Night Football game against the Buccaneers on November 13, 2006, Johnson became the first player in NFL history to score a touchdown on Monday Night Football with four teams (Jets, Buccaneers, Cowboys and Panthers). Johnson was released from the Panthers on May 1, 2007, after just one season with the team. He posted 70 receptions for 815 yards and four touchdowns in Carolina.
On May 23, 2007, Johnson announced he was retiring from the NFL, reportedly turning down offers by several teams, including theTennessee Titans. Titans' Head CoachJeff Fisher, who became friends with Johnson while he played at USC, said he thought Johnson's numbers and production spoke for themselves: "He still played at a high-level last year. He takes very good care of himself," Fisher said. "He hasn't had any injuries per season. Anytime you get a chance to bring an experienced veteran in to add to your roster then it's a good thing." On the same day, Johnson announced he would be working as an analyst for ESPN.[9]
On February 5, 2008, CBS4 Miami reported thatBill Parcells reached out to Johnson. Parcells reportedly told him if he was to come out of retirement there would be a spot on the Miami Dolphins roster for him.[10]
His all-around game has earned him selection to the Pro Bowl three times – 1998 and 1999 with the N.Y. Jets and 2001 with Tampa Bay. Johnson finished his career with 814 receptions, tying him at 17th all-time withHenry Ellard for career NFL receptions. His 10,571 yards receiving is the 24th highest total in NFL history. In reaching the 600 career receptions plateau in 118 games, he tiedHerman Moore for the second fewest games needed in NFL history to reach that mark, and he became one of only three players in league history (Moore andMarvin Harrison) to reach 600 receptions in fewer than 120 games. He caught 512 passes in his first 100 games to rank as the fourth most receptions in a player's first 100 games. The other three are: Marvin Harrison (591),Sterling Sharpe (524), andLionel Taylor (516).
To achieve this production, he has averaged 74.8 catches-per-season over his first nine seasons, and caught a pass in every one of his 135 games played over this span. This accomplishment was the second longest streak among active receivers (Harrison, 139) and the third longest streak to begin a career among all players (Marshall Faulk, 158 and Harrison, 139) at that time. For his career, Johnson recorded 60 or more catches in ten of his eleven NFL seasons. In 2001 and 2002, he became the first player in Buccaneers history to record consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons when he registered 1,266 yards in 2001 and 1,098 in 2002. Johnson missed only three of a possible 145 career games – including playoffs – due to injury.
Arguably, Johnson's biggest legacy in the NFL has been of the league toloosen up its jersey number policy, wearing number 19 throughout his career despite the fact that it generally wasn't permissible during most of his career. Entering his rookie training camp with the Jets, Johnson wore number 19 due to all the 80s numbers at the time being used, but was allowed to keep 19 once the regular season started despite 80s numbers becoming available after the final cut downs. He continued to wear 19 with the Buccaneers despite also having 80s numbers available; the NFL permitted it despite Johnson not also playing a position eligible for number 19 such asquarterback, since it wasn't within the 50-79 range that is reserved for offensive lineman and needed for those positions foreligible receiver-based reasons. Upon Johnson's arrival in Dallas in 2004, the NFL relaxed rules for receivers, and now could wear numbers in the 10-19 range in addition to 80s numbers.[11]
Since Johnson's retirement, the NFL has since greatly expanded what numbers are available to players, with receivers now eligible to wear numbers 0–49 in addition to 80–89.
| Legend | |
|---|---|
| Won theSuper Bowl | |
| Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Receiving | Fumbles | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rec | Yds | Avg | Lng | TD | FD | Fum | Lost | |||
| 1996 | NYJ | 14 | 63 | 844 | 13.4 | 50 | 8 | 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 1997 | NYJ | 16 | 70 | 963 | 13.8 | 39 | 5 | 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 1998 | NYJ | 16 | 83 | 1,131 | 13.6 | 41 | 10 | 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | NYJ | 16 | 89 | 1,170 | 13.1 | 65 | 8 | 57 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | TB | 16 | 71 | 874 | 12.3 | 38 | 8 | 49 | 2 | 2 |
| 2001 | TB | 15 | 106 | 1,266 | 11.9 | 47 | 1 | 67 | 2 | 1 |
| 2002 | TB | 16 | 76 | 1,088 | 14.3 | 76 | 5 | 53 | 0 | 0 |
| 2003 | TB | 10 | 45 | 600 | 13.3 | 39 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | DAL | 16 | 70 | 981 | 14.0 | 39 | 6 | 53 | 1 | 1 |
| 2005 | DAL | 16 | 71 | 839 | 11.8 | 34 | 6 | 46 | 3 | 3 |
| 2006 | CAR | 16 | 70 | 815 | 11.6 | 40 | 4 | 42 | 1 | 1 |
| Career[12] | 167 | 814 | 10,571 | 13.0 | 76 | 64 | 552 | 9 | 8 | |
Johnson was part of the2007 NFL draft broadcasting team withChris Berman,Mel Kiper Jr. andChris Mortensen that aired on ESPN. In 2007, he became an ESPN analyst forSunday NFL Countdown, andMonday Night Countdown.[13] Within the confines ofSunday NFL Countdown andMonday Night Countdown, Johnson invented a segment calledC'mon Man!, which allows each panel member to pick a moment in the last NFL week "revolving around either the play on the field or unprofessional behavior off it" that one might consider, on some level, either inexcusable or downright laughable.[14] Each member verbalizes what their gripe may be, while highlights of the moment that they are illustrating run around it, and then ends with the panel member stating with disdain, "C'mon man!" He has also been an analyst on several ESPN telecasts, including pre-game shows on Sundays and Monday nights, and some radio work as well.
He was also an analyst on the ESPNWho's Now competition. He occasionally hostedJim Rome Is Burning while Jim Rome was unavailable. On January 23, 2011, Johnson was not onSunday NFL Countdown for Championship weekend because his mother unexpectedly died.[15] After being briefly let go by ESPN in 2016, he was brought back to appear on SportsCenter, ESPN Radio, and other shows.[16]
On August 17, 2020, Johnson began hosting mornings on "ESPN LA 710" KSPN, replacing "Golic and Wingo". Johnson will be joined by basketball analystJay Williams, a former NBA player; andMax Kellerman, with the show being titled "KJM". ESPN says the hosts will discuss the morning's top stories and overnight developments with their own perspective and analysis. Johnson will also regularly appear on "Get Up" and "First Take."[17][18][19]
As of June 30, 2023, Johnson is no longer working with ESPN.[20]
Johnson co-founded First Picks Management in 2005 as a vehicle to pursue his business interests in the food service, hotel, and real estate industries as well as venture capital investing.[citation needed] He recruitedHarvard Business School MBAs, Glenn, and Clarence Mah, as well as his public relations and marketing agent, Ingrid Roberts, to co-lead the organization.[21] Johnson and his management team partnered withNational Football League andNational Basketball Association athletes, includingWarrick Dunn,Dennis Northcutt,Terence Newman, andJoe Smith in developingFirst Picks Management, a corporate website.
In November 2008, Johnson was contracted for a weekend TV Series calledKeyshawn Johnson: Tackling Design.[22] The show was onA&E in July 2009 and showcases Johnson's knowledge of interior design to help other people redecorate their homes.[citation needed]
In 2012, Johnson starred in Jägermeister's critically acclaimedA Stronger Bond television and digital campaign created by the award-winning advertising agency Mistress.[23] In 2013, Johnson was announced to be a contestant on the17th season ofDancing with the Stars. He was paired with professional dancerSharna Burgess. On the show of September 23 he was the first celebrity voted out.[24]
In November 2025 he won the "Football Legends" episode of CelebrityWeakest Link and received $50,000 for charity.[25]
He has been married twice. Johnson and Shikiri Hightower were married from 1998 to 2002 and they had two children: Maia and Keyshawn Johnson, Jr. His second wife is Jennifer Conrad, with whom he has three children: London, Shyla, and Vance.[26] Keyshawn Johnson Jr. was a wide receiver at theUniversity of Nebraska.[27] His nephew is formerNew Orleans Saints WRMichael Thomas.[28][29][30]
On March 15, 2021, Johnson announced on his Twitter that his oldest daughter Maia had died at the age of 25.[31]
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
