John Henry Johnson

For other people named John Henry Johnson, see John Henry Johnson (disambiguation).

John Henry Johnson
refer to caption
c. 1955
No. 35
Position:Fullback, halfback
Personal information
Born:(1929-11-24)November 24, 1929
Waterproof, Louisiana, U.S.
Died:June 3, 2011(2011-06-03) (aged 81)
Tracy, California, U.S.
Height:6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight:210 lb (95 kg)
Career information
High school:Pittsburg (Pittsburg, California)
College:Saint Mary's
Arizona State
NFL draft:1953 / Round: 2 / Pick: 18
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career professional statistics
Rushing yards:6,803
Yards per carry:4.3
Rushing touchdowns:48
Player stats at PFR

John Henry Johnson (November 24, 1929 – June 3, 2011) was an American professional football player who was a running back. He was known for his excellence at the fullback position as both a runner and a blocker. His first professional stint was in Canada in the Western Interprovincial Football Union (WIFU, a forerunner league to today's Canadian Football League) for one season with the Calgary Stampeders. He then played in the National Football League (NFL) for the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, and Pittsburgh Steelers before spending his final season in the American Football League (AFL) with the Houston Oilers. Commonly referred to as simply John Henry, an allusion to the folk hero of the same name,[1] Johnson was a tough and tenacious player who performed at a high level well into the tail end of his career.

After playing college football for St. Mary's Gaels and Arizona State Sun Devils, Johnson was selected in the second round of the 1953 NFL draft by the Steelers, the 18th overall pick. He instead played one season of Canadian football for the Stampeders, in which he won the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player. He then signed with the 49ers, and played left halfback in San Francisco's famed "Million Dollar Backfield". He was traded to Detroit in 1957, and became the team's leading rusher en route to that year's NFL championship, their most recent.

His abilities seemingly in decline, Johnson was traded to Pittsburgh in 1960, where he had the most productive years of his career, recording two 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He is the second oldest player to record a 1,000-yard rushing season (behind only John Riggins), having achieved that mark for the final time on December 6, 1964, at the age of 35 years 12 days. He is the oldest player to rush for 200 or more yards in a game. A four-time Pro Bowl selection, Johnson ranked third on the NFL's all-time rushing yards list when he retired, but was best remembered by his peers for the mark he left with his blocking. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

  1. ^ Bouchette, Ed (August 7, 1987). "John Henry was a steel-drivin' man". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. 17. Retrieved October 10, 2016.