Ron Johnson Talks Rushing Signature, Collecting Randall Cunningham, Growing Mancave
York, PA native Ron Johnson was a defensive force at Shippensburg University. The star defensive end was a three-time All-PSAC Western Division selection during his time at Ship from 1999 to 2002.
Johnson spent part of one season with the Philadelphia Eagles, appearing in three games. During his second season with the Eagles, he suffered a spinal injury and was subsequently released. Johnson retired from NFL in 2005 due to the serious nature of whose spinal injury.
In September of 2005, Johnson was the first overall draft pick in the NFL Europe Free Agent Draft by the Hamburg Sea Devils.
In 2006, he signed with the Philadelphia Soul of the Arena Football League
In 2010, Johnson founded the Rising Stars Football Academy. The vision of the academy is to take players from all levels and teach techniques and skills to help with player development in all facets of the game, on and off the field. The program also incorporates a focus on education, leadership and student athlete development.
The natural born coach took on the role as defensive line coach at Red Lion Area High School in Red Lion, PA in 2012. He remains on the staff today.
In this recent interview, Coach Johnson talks about his childhood card collection, rubbing elbows with legendary Baltimore Orioles, Fan Fest signings with Brian Dawkins, his mancave and much more.
Tony Reid-Do you remember when you were first approached as a professional football player and asked for your autograph?
Ron Johnson-The first time was in training camp during my rookie year. Our preseason camp was at Lehigh Valley. Coming off the field and seeing all the top guys like Dawkins and McNabb, fans were drawn to them and asking them for their autograph. You always had kids and fans stopping everyone. I wasn’t used to that coming out of a small Division II school. I thought that it was pretty cool. I wanted to sign every autograph that I could. I used to sign my name pretty long, a full signature in cursive. At a fan festival it was me and Dawkins sitting next to each other at the table. He said “You are going to do a little faster signature than that.” I was backing the line up. I had to adapt and do the doctor style signature.
TR- We all know the intensity of Philadelphia sports fans. What was your experience like playing for the Eagles in the City of Brotherly Love?
RJ-I would say the fans that welcome you and know you, even though you came out of a small school, you are happy and excited for the opportunity to get there. I had to work my way up the ladder from Division II, being on the practice squad for a few weeks and then being promoted to the active roster. For a player like me it’s almost like “How do you know me?” I think there are a lot of fans that look everybody up on draft day and all the free agents and all of the guys that are making the team. It’s cool to see. It humbles you. You have to realize, I am a pro, too. You are a little star struck when you first get there. The fans that welcome you and welcome everybody and want everybody’s autograph, that is the coolest part of some of those experiences I had. Sometimes Philly fans get a bad rap but you won’t see any more passionate fans anywhere. I have been all across the country and been to every city and Philly has the best fans.
TR- Do you have a mancave where you have mementos from your career displayed?
RJ-Definitely. We have a theatre/office at home here. We watch all of the big games on the projector- a 120 inch screen. Behind that, I have some of my plaques and pictures from my playing days from college and with the Eagles. I have all of my jerseys framed and hanging on the wall. It’s cool to look at that at times and for our kids to see that. It brings back a lot of good memories. Most of all, you look at that and you think of all of the hard work it took to get there and you appreciate all of the coaches and mentors you had along the way. All of those memories come back when you look up at the wall and see all of the memorabilia and jerseys I have.
TR-What player’s cards did you collect growing up?
RJ-Randall Cunningham, Reggie White, Walter Payton, I had all of their cards. I tried to protect them the best I could. I had more baseball cards than anything. I had all kinds of sports cards. I would keep them and hide them away thinking that they would all be valuable and worth a lot of money some day.
TR-What baseball players were your favorite back then?
RJ-I grew up liking the Orioles especially Cal Ripken, Jr. I liked Ken Griffey, Jr., too. Growing up 45 minutes north of Baltimore, I played baseball here and every spring there was some sort of connection with our youth team and the Orioles. Eddie Murray and the Ripkens would come up and do batting lessons with us. They would do fielding drills. The coolest thing was to be beside a Major League Baseball player. That was a cool opportunity and I will always remember that.
TR-If you could go back to your playing days and swap jerseys with anyone, who would you choose and why?
RJ-I would say the greats of the time, if they would accept my jersey. I was fortunate enough to have the great opportunity to play for a lot of great coaches and with a lot of great players in 2003. In 2004, we made it to the Super Bowl and lost to the Patriots. I got injured and then got released from the team. I would want to trade with any stud defender, lineman or offensive tackle.
Tony Reid spent more than a decade covering combat sports at the highest level. He has written hundreds of articles and conducted hundreds of interviews about sports collectibles for such publications as Beckett, Sports Collectors Digest, and Sports Collectors Daily. Reid worked full time at a sports card shop in Central Pennsylvania for a number of years. A lifelong collector, Tony treasures his rookie card collection of star players in baseball, basketball, and football. If you want to discuss the greatness of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey Jr., you can reach him at @tonyreidwrites on all social media platforms