Senior Safety Jesse Johnson from Durand was, "Born to be a Spartan!"

 

As his shirt says in this picture from the day he was brought home from the hospital, Jesse Johnson was born to be a Spartan. Photo courtesy of the Johnson family archives.

Sports, by their very nature, are great places to find stories. In an age of me-first athletes and off-field troubles taking the limelight, there is a story inside the Duffy Daugherty football building that must be told.

 

It is about a young man who simply is everything that being a Spartan is about, and the refreshing thing is that he would never tell you that. I am talking about senior safety walk on Jesse Johnson.

 

Coming from right here in mid-Michigan, Durand, you have to go back 22 years to truly tell the remarkable story of an even more remarkable young man.

 

“The very first picture of me is when I was brought home from the hospital and my mom had me in a born to be a Spartan shirt,” (That picture is at the top of this article) was Jesse’s thoughts on when he started being a Spartan fan. “I have been playing football since I was 6. I was born and raised with Spartan football. I always knew that I wanted to play at Spartan Stadium and I attended every home game since I was eight with my grandpa. He has been a season ticket holder since 1957.”

 

For Jesse, born into a close-knit family of Spartans, he is living the dream as a Spartan football player. His passion and fire to reach that dream is seen each and every fall Saturday, but to find the source of that passion and what drove the dream you have to go back to Durand.

 

The fire for football and the work ethic that allowed this young man to live that dream, he credited to his father Marty. “Dad has always been pushing me. He would always tell me after a workout or a game that it wasn’t good enough. We are so much alike and he knows how to push the buttons. I, for sure, wouldn’t be here today if my Dad didn’t push me to reach my dreams. They weren’t his, they were mine and he pushed me. I really love my dad and I appreciate that.”

 

His mom Patricia, whose motherly heart to comfort her son and her trust of a husband to push him at times, found herself in the middle. She said about those times, “Jesse would ask his dad that when he wanted to stop don’t let him stop. He was hard on Jesse because he knew what he wanted. I worried sometimes how this would come out as a mom, my heart was don’t hurt my babies feelings. My husband saw the big picture and I was mom.”

 

Of course Marty saw it this way, “I never really forced him into anything he didn’t want to until he came to me and asked me. I knew his goal was to be a Michigan State player and I held him to his dream and pushed him.”

 

Long before Jesse was born in 1988, the seeds of both he and his families love for MSU was birthed in his maternal grandfather’s heart, Arlen Laux. Mr. Laux wanted to attend MSU. He remembers that desire and states, “Those were different times and I wasn’t able to, but I have always loved the place. I went to my first game in 1952 when they played Texas A&M here and won.” 

 

Talking with both Jesse and his grandfather it is evident that they share a bond beyond the grandfather/grandson role and are true friends. “I am glad the dream came true for him. He is living a dream a lot of kids don’t get to do. A lot of kids talk about dreams, but he has made it happen.”

 

In fact, Jesse told me about a declaration he made back in 1997. “Being up in the stands, sitting with my grandpa, we were in section eight row 42 seats one and two. He had talked about giving up his tickets and I told him and everyone in the stands that I was going to play down there one day. Everyone laughed, but my grandpa believed. I always wanted to put on that uniform. I will never forget that everyone laughed, but not my grandpa and he kept those tickets.”

 

Mr. Laux remembers that day vividly, “I remember (he had a long pause as he laughed). I told him that Grandpa was going to give up his tickets and he told me don’t do it now, I am going to play down there. I believed him.”

 

For Mr. Laux, spending time with his little buddy on the campus of MSU had a lot of great moments long before he ever ran out of that tunnel. “He was sliding down the Red Cedar banks with a piece of bread. He had slipped and a duck took it right out of his hands. That same day we were walking around campus, he was ten or eleven and he stopped and said isn’t this place beautiful? Jesse was just born to be a Spartan.”

 

Spending time with his grandson is a special thing and with a walk on campus at MSU Mr. Laux saw early that tough-as-nails attitude that has taken Jesse so far. “When he was real little he wanted to compete to see who could eat their cereal first, then who could run faster. He always wanted to compete, at everything and he wanted to win so badly. When he told me that day about playing on the field down there I knew he would. That is the kind of eager beaver kid Jesse is.”

 

Marty told me, “His high school football coach told Jesse and me that he should go division two rather than division one because he would never see the field. Even people in the community said it while division one coaches were coming and visiting. I think about that every time he plays. It motivated him and I think it still does.”

 

Johnson had multiple offers of scholarships but he states, “I wanted to be a Spartan.” He told me, “I went to a John L. Smith three day camp. I didn’t realize that true prospects should have went to the one day. They said I played great and they asked me to walk on and I stayed in touch. That spring after school, I would drive to MSU every day to watch practice. Coach Smith said that if I was this committed to being at spring practice and watch practice that they knew they had to have me.”

 

For any young man to turn down scholarships and the money that comes with them to play football and have to pay for it shows you a glimpse of their heart, but don’t make it sound noble to Jesse. He said of his choice, “Nowhere else in the world I would have come and played. I have always been and will always be a Spartan.”

Jesse red-shirted his first year and the next saw a new coaching staff come in. Jesse pulled no punches when talking about both coaches and staff. “Coach Smith was great people. I loved John .L as a person, but there was no camaraderie among his staff. No hello from other position coaches. If they didn’t coach you they didn’t care. When Coach Dantonio showed up the entire thing changed. I am a safety and Coach Staten spent 15 minutes with me today talking about fishing. This staff loves football, but they care a lot more about us off the field as people.”

 

Jesse made good on his promise to his family and has done a lot more. He ran out of that tunnel and has went on and played in every game of his career except Michigan and Purdue his sophomore year.  Johnson plays safety and has become a special teams’ star for the Spartans, but for his family, every time he runs out of that tunnel it is still special.

 

His grandfather explained his emotion of each time Jesse comes out of that Spartan tunnel. “I thought I was going to explode, my heart is so proud.” His mother Patricia shares the emotion of her dad. “I am just as excited today as the first day. So exciting. Great thrill. When I hear that loudspeaker saying his name after a tackle it is really exciting. He is getting some acknowledgement about his hard work.”  Dad Marty says it the most simple yet also profound, “When he runs out I hope the people that told him he couldn’t do it are watching.”

 

Perhaps the biggest Jesse Johnson fan is his 15 year-old sister Marissa. “I don’t think I have a bigger fan, but I don’t think she realizes that she doesn’t have a bigger fan either,” was how Johnson bragged about his kid sister. 

 

Patricia described Jesse and Marissa’s relationship this way. “His sister is his number one fan. She was born going to his games. A few weeks old at his first one being carried on my back.”

. 

Marissa shares the emotion for her big brother. “He means the world to me. I would do anything for him and he would be there for me in a heartbeat. I am so proud to watch Jesse live his dream. It is the most exciting thing in the world. All my friends text me when he plays.”

 

Jesse has a great family and a wonderful story, but he doesn’t want to get comfortable yet. His career has some unfinished business. “Rose Bowl! Me and Greg Jones were just talking about that. As a sophomore we were one game away that is the only goal for this team and me. In 2010 our focus and goal is nothing less than a Rose Bowl. There are only three of us safeties with any playing time. I played in the bowl game. I am going to keep working just like always. Now is not the time to relax. I have to work harder.”

 

For a young man who has always relied on that tough-nose blue-collar Durand work ethic, passed down through generations of Spartans, you can’t bet against him. Every time he has been told he can’t do something he digs deeper and finds a way.

 

As for grandpa who wanted to attend MSU and couldn’t? “I don’t live through him, it is his life, but I can see life through his eyes. I can imagine what he feels. I sure am proud of Jesse.”

 

So is the Spartan Nation. There are a lot of young people that take a scholarship and an opportunity for granted. Not Jesse. He loves every minute of it. He loves being a Spartan. Don’t believe me? Just check out this young man born to be a Spartan going crazy in the Izzone, like I did last month.

 

“I have to be here. I am a Spartan and can you be a student and not want to be part of the Izzone?” No Jesse you couldn’t. 

 

I am sure the pride of Durand, Michigan, has some great memories. What I don’t think he realizes is how many he has made for so many people. In a day and age of selfish me-first athletes, Johnson reminds us all what makes college sports the best.

 

He certainly was “Born to be a Spartan.”