Charles Johnson has travelled a varied route to Minneapolis, but he sure looks at home with the Vikings. The 25-year-old wide receiver was signed off the Browns’ practice squad on September 20 and despite not playing a snap for the Vikings until October 2 he has become one of the team’s most productive offensive players.
Johnson totaled 103 and 72 yards in receptions the last two Sundays. His 415 yards for the season ranks third on the team and his 16 yards per catch is best on the Vikings. He has become a big play receiver, taking over as a starter and pushing high potential-inconsistent Cordarrelle Patterson to the bench. Last Sunday his 72 yards on five catches against the Lions were better than Detroit’s All-World wide receiver Calvin Johnson who totaled four receptions and 53 yards.
“I’ve known I can do this my whole time,” Johnson told Sports Headliners. “It’s just that you’ve got to have opportunity. You wouldn’t know (Hall of Famer) Jerry Rice was the best receiver in the league until he got out there and played that day.”
Nobody is saying Johnson will have a career like Rice—perhaps the greatest wide receiver of all-time—but it’s interesting that the two played collegiately at small schools. While the 49ers chose Rice in the first round out of Mississippi Valley State, the Packers drafted Johnson on the seventh round in 2013 from Division II Grand Valley State in Michigan.
Johnson, who also attended two other colleges before Grand Valley, believes he was worthy of being selected higher. The 6-2, 220-pound native of Kentucky mentioned his 31 touchdowns in Division II, 40-inch vertical jump and 4.3 time in the 40-yard dash. “I know I am a D-II guy; they’re not going to give too much credit for that,” he said.
Johnson, though, isn’t focused week to week on statistics. He didn’t have much to say about his numbers being better than Johnson’s last Sunday. “Stats don’t really mean too much to me. I just like to win.”
The Packers—among the savviest of organizations in judging personnel—knew what they were doing in drafting Johnson. Problem was Johnson injured a knee and it slowed down his progress last year. That led to being placed on the Packers practice squad and then the Browns signed him. In Cleveland he was told of an ACL tear and didn’t play in any games during 2013. Norv Turner, the Vikings offensive coordinator, had the same role with the Browns last year so he became familiar with Johnson and thought he could help the Vikings.
Teammates like offensive tackle Mike Harris are happy to have Johnson on their side. He and Johnson room together in hotels on Saturday nights before Sunday games. Harris described Johnson’s journey to the Vikings as an “underdog story.”
“The guy is a beast,” Harris said. “He’s a playmaker.”
Whatever success Johnson has achieved so far doesn’t surprise him. “If you’re willing to work hard you can do anything you want. Like I always say, ‘When hard work meets opportunity, you create your own success.’ ”
Worth Noting
Turner, who likes the ability of Johnson to get separation from defenders and thinks he has “very good upside,” also talked yesterday about how despite all the changes on the team’s offense including Adrian Peterson’s suspension and injuries to linemen, rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has demonstrated considerable promise. “We’ve kind of had an interesting group and the people we’ve played on offense have been wide ranging and to do the things he’s done (Bridgewater), it just tells you something about the type of person he is. …
“The thing that excites me is he can make any throw you need to make. He does it with people around him. He does it with people hitting him. He does it when he has to slide in the pocket. He knows how to play football and that’s the starting point of the quarterback position. He’s got the intangibles you need and he’s going to continue to get better and better.”
If the Vikings defeat the Dolphins in Miami on Sunday and win their last game at home on December 28 against the Bears, Mike Zimmer will finish the season 8-8. The franchise has never had a first-year coach with a .500 record. Jerry Burns and Dennis Green had winning first seasons while Norm Van Brocklin, Bud Grant, Brad Childress, Leslie Frazier, Les Steckel and Mike Tice all had losing records.
Before the season Bob Lurtsema predicted his ex-team would finish at 8-8, as reported previously in Sports Headliners.
The Twins announced today 18 players on minor league contracts have been invited to major league spring training camp. The players are right-handed pitchers Jose Berrios, Tyler Duffey, Mark Hamburger and Adrian Salcedo; left-handers Ryan O’Rourke and Taylor Rogers; catchers Mitch Garver, Tyler Grimes, Dan Rohfling and Stuart Turner; infielders James Beresford, Doug Bernier, Argenis Diaz and Heiker Meneses; outfielders Byron Buxton, Eric Farris, Danny Ortiz and Shane Robinson.
The Gophers’ offense had little success against TCU’s fast defense when the Horned Frogs defeated Minnesota 30-7 last September. The Gophers will face a similarly fast defense against Missouri in the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on January 1 in Orlando. The Tigers tied Alabama with seven selections each on the coaches All-SEC first and second offensive, defensive and special teams. Among those honored were defensive linemen Shane Ray, a first team choice; and second team selection Markus Golden.
Sun Country Airlines sent e-mails to potential customers earlier this week notifying them the Minnesota-based airline has added flights to Orlando from Minneapolis that depart December 31 and January 1, and return January 1, 3 and 4.
It appears the Gophers Athletic Department will sell all of its 9,000 tickets allotment for the Citrus Bowl. Figuring in other ticket sources, the Gophers might have between 12,000 and 15,000 fans cheering for them at the game. That would be the largest bowl game number for the Gophers since they played in the Rose Bowl more than 50 years ago.
Among the speculated reasons Gary Andersen left Wisconsin for the Oregon State job is the Badgers don’t competitively pay assistant coaches. The Badgers rank ninth in total salaries for assistants at $2,368,600 among 12 (of 14) Big Ten schools that disclosed information, according to data released by USA Today on December 10. The Gophers rank fifth in the Big Ten at $2,757,000 and just ahead of Nebraska.
The top paid assistant coach in college football is believed to be newly hired Auburn defensive coordinator Will Muschamp at $1.6 million. According to USA Today, MSU defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi is the highest paid assistant in the Big Ten at $905,033. Gophers defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys ranked No. 33 in USA Today‘s listings at $600,000 while offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover ranked No. 47 at $550,000. Former Gophers head coach Tim Brewster, now tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator at Florida State, makes $340,000 and is ranked No 159.
Last minute Christmas shoppers looking for an entertaining and inspiring true story about dog ownership and spiritual faith will want to consider David Wheaton’s new book, “My Boy, Ben.” The Minnesota native and former professional tennis star writes with passion and provoking thought about his daily journey with Ben, an extraordinary yellow lab. More at Davidwheaton.com.
Twins outfielder Torii Hunter, and ex-Twins Dave Winfield and LaTroy Hawkins, are among the scheduled baseball celebrities to be in Las Vegas in January for a poker tournament and golf tournament to benefit the Players Trust, a charitable foundation.
When the Star Tribune relocates its offices to the Capella Tower complex, the company may have an exterior news ticker similar to that in Times Square in New York.
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