Early this week I heard some news that brightened my day. Josh Johnson, a former Oakland Tech quarterback and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer, is going to get his first opportunity to start in the NFL this coming Sunday. Tampa Bay has elected to sit the starter Byron Leftwich in favor of the younger option, Johnson, who was inserted in Sunday's game for one drive in the 4th quarter and went 4-10 for 36 yards.Although Josh was talented at Tech, he also had to deal with the fact that Marshawn Lynch was on the same team. He did however earn a scholarship to University of San Diego, where he graduated with the highest passer rating in the history of college football. Although he did not always play against the best competition, that is still an amazing feat. Think of all the great quarterbacks in the history of college football- Peyton Manning, Danny Wuerffel, Matt Leinart, and the majestic Kyle Bowler. Alright, maybe not Bowler, but Josh Johnson haws earned teh right to be mentioned in that conversation. So kudos for that, but also for the chance to start his first NFL game!
Marshawn will also play in his first game this weekend. 38thnotes has written a stable of stories about Marshawn and his legal troubles, but now he can forget about that and get back to the grid iron. After serving his league mandated 3 game suspension, Marshawn gets to join his team once again. It will be interesting to see how the Bills use him, since his back up Fred Jackson, who is also on my fantasy team, has been killing. Marshawn and Terrell Owens on the same team?? That will be very interesting, to say the least. All I know is that both the Buccaneers and Bills games will be more interesting than the Raiders.
Above: Highlights of Josh and Marshawn leading Oakland Tech to the 2004 Silver Bowl title. It was an amazing back-and-forth battle that ranks as one of the greatest high school football games I've ever seen. The run by Marshawn at the end of this reel was even more amazing in person–now let's just hope Marshawn can break a couple of those this week.
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Only a note that is a testament to the great heart that makes Josh tick. He had a schoalrship offer withdrawn as the coach at the school was fired. U of San Diego, is a Jesuit school that does not have scholarships. Josh graduated in three years! His senior year my sis and I (Bulldogs pro vida) saw him throw dimes in a losing effort against a deeper Davis team. The fact that he continually makes believers out of doubters just pleases the shit out of me. I always told his mom that he was as good an athelete as his uncle, who was a great one at Ohigh! Thanks for this post...martyp
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