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Donnie Johnson Plays Big Role in Many Special Ways
10/27/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 27, 2006
When you think of a football player and the mentality, physicality and heart it takes to play the game well, Tulsa senior Donnie Johnson should be one of the first names to come to mind.
Johnson is the hard-nosed player that every coach wants to have on his team.
A wide receiver by trade, he is easily one of the toughest and most aggressive you will find and stands only 5'9", 209 pounds. This is a trait that earned him an integral role in special teams play, and this season has received an expanded role at receiver.
"I enjoy special teams as much as playing receiver," said Johnson. "To me, special teams is one of the key roles in football."
Not only is special teams a key aspect of the game, but Johnson's role on special teams is important as well.
Johnson is a "wedge-buster," which means that he is the player that flies down the field with reckless abandon and hurls himself into the opponent's wall of blockers to allow his teammates to reach the kick returner to bring him down.
Being a "wedge-buster" takes a special type of mentality that not many players have. It has also earned him the nickname "Crazy Donnie", a moniker he earned as a freshman.
"You have to have a crazy mentality," said Johnson of being a "wedge-buster," "Like you don't care about anything else. They give you this one specific task, to go down and go through the wedge, and that's what you have to do."
And do it he has, to the tune of earning a spot on all but one special teams squad.
One might think that the guy who busts the wedge might go unrecognized while his teammates collect uncontested tackles, but that's not the case.
Johnson already has five tackles on the season on special teams, bringing his total number of tackles on special teams to 41.
In addition to his role in special teams play, he has also seen his role on offense grow during his senior year. In his previous seasons, Johnson has used his blocking ability more than his catching ability at the receiver slot. That has changed this season. Johnson caught his first career touchdown pass in Tulsa's 24-23 overtime win over Navy, a six-yard crossing pattern in the first overtime that became the eventual game winner after Nick Graham and Moton Hopkins combined to block a Midshipmen extra point try on the ensuing possession.
On the season, Johnson has already compiled 123 yards on 12 receptions with the one touchdown. Entering the 2006 campaign, Johnson had only caught one pass in his previous three years.
His hard-nosed, aggressive play is not something that he discovered at The University of Tulsa, he carried it with him from his prep playing days at Dallas' Skyline High School.
Johnson played his high school ball with the same intensity and determination that he brings to the field at Skelly Stadium. He finished his senior campaign with 34 receptions for 694 yards and nine touchdowns. He was a first-team All-District 10-5A as well as earning all-state honors. Johnson was named to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex Coca Cola All-Star team and was a rivals100.com all-region selection.
Johnson, who is majoring in management information systems, has also found time to volunteer with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters organization and is a member of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
He may be on the smallish size, but Johnson's play has been huge whether he's lined up at receiver or headed down field on special teams. Fans just need to know, when they see No. 9 on a pass route or as the "wedge-buster", it's only "Crazy Donnie" doing the job that he does so well.
