Jaymar Johnson (born July 10, 1984) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

wide receiver. He was drafted by the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

in the sixth round of the

2008 NFL Draft The 2008 NFL Draft was the 73rd annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players. The draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, New York, on April 26 and April 27, ...

. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Jackson State Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

. Johnson has also played for the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

Early years

Johnson was born on July 10, 1984, in

Gary, Indiana Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city has been historically dominated by major industrial activity and is home to U.S. Steel's Gary Works, the largest steel mill complex in North America. Gary is located along the ...

. As a kid, he won seven

Pop Warner Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...

trophies and his nickname was "Double-J". As a senior in high school he was named All-State, All-Area and All-Conference.

Shootings

As a teenager, Johnson left his aunt's home in Gary with his nephew (William M. Fields Jr.) and was caught in the

crossfire A crossfire (also known as interlocking fire) is a military term for the siting of weapons (often automatic weapons such as assault rifles or sub-machine guns) so that their arcs of fire overlap. This tactic came to prominence in World War I. ...

of a gun battle about 100 yards from his location. A few years later during a pickup basketball game, Johnson fled with his cousins and later discovered his

t-shirt A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt), or tee, is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a ''crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shirts are general ...

had been grazed by a bullet.

College career

Johnson attended

Jackson State University Jackson State University (Jackson State or JSU) is a public historically black research university in Jackson, Mississippi. It is one of the largest HBCUs in the United States and the fourth largest university in Mississippi in terms of studen ...

and debuted for the Tigers against Alabama State and future teammate

Tarvaris Jackson Tarvaris D'Andre Jackson (April 21, 1983 – April 12, 2020) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Jackson played college football for both Alabama State and Arkansas. He played professionally for the ...

. As a junior, he had a career-high 199 receiving yards against Southern. During his last three seasons at Jackson State, Johnson started in every game. He majored in

health education Health education is a profession of educating people about health. Areas within this profession encompass environmental health, physical health, social health, emotional health, intellectual health, and spiritual health, as well as sexual and r ...

at Jackson State.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Johnson was drafted by the

in the sixth round of the

, through a pick acquired from trading

Troy Williamson '' Troy Williamson (born April 30, 1983) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League for five seasons. He was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings seventh overall in the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college fo ...

to the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

. He became the first

player to be drafted since

Sylvester Morris Sylvester Morris, Jr. (born October 6, 1977) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the Kansas City Chiefs. Morris was an alum of McDonogh 35 High School in New Orleans before joining the Jackson State Tigers' ...

in the

2000 NFL Draft The 2000 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur U.S. college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 15– 16, 2000, at the Thea ...

. He was cut late during training camp but was re-signed to the

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 1, 2008. He spent most of the year on the practice squad. According to Vikings

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

Brad Childress Bradley Childress (born June 27, 1956) is a former American football coach. He worked for over 40 years as a coach for various college programs and National Football League (NFL) franchises. He was the offensive coordinator for Wisconsin from 19 ...

, during the 2009 offseason, Johnson put on 17 pounds getting up to 187 and is currently the hardest worker on the team. During the 2010 preseason, Johnson was placed on the Injured Reserve list, having broken his left thumb in the Week 1 preseason game against the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arr ...

. The injury allowed the Vikings to re-register returning quarterback

Brett Favre Brett Lorenzo Favre ( ; born October 10, 1969) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons, primarily with the Green Bay Packers. Favre had 321 consecutive starts from 1992 to 20 ...

to their 53-man roster. On September 2, 2011, he was waived by Minnesota.

Arizona Cardinals

The

signed him to their practice squad on September 20. He was promoted to the active roster on November 29. Johnson was waived on December 23, 2011. Johnson was added to the

on December 28, 2011. He was waived on August 25, 2012.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers

Johnson signed with the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

in April 2014. Johnson was released from the team on June 20, 2014.

Personal

His brother James played

at Arkansas-Pine Bluff. He is the youngest of eight children and enjoys playing the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

and planned on joining the medical field following his college career. His wife (Kassy Johnson) is a special education teacher at Eden Prairie High School in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jaymar 1984 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona Cardinals players Jackson State Tigers football players Minnesota Vikings players Players of American football from Gary, Indiana Winnipeg Blue Bombers players