Johnny Richard Stanton IV (born September 7, 1994) is an

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 ...

fullback Fullback or Full back may refer to: Sports * A position in various kinds of football, including: ** Full-back (association football), in association football (soccer), a defender playing in a wide position ** Fullback (gridiron football), in Americ ...

who is currently a free agent. 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 ...

UNLV The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...

. He signed with 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 ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2018.

Early life and high school

Stanton grew up in

Rancho Santa Margarita, California Rancho Santa Margarita is a city in Orange County, California, United States. One of Orange County's youngest cities, Rancho Santa Margarita is a master-planned community. The population was 47,853 at the 2010 census, up from 47,214 at the 2000 ...

and attended

Santa Margarita Catholic High School Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) is a coeducational college preparatory Roman Catholic high school located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, United States. SMCHS is owned and operated by the Diocese of Orange, and was opened in ...

. As a junior, he passed for 2,439 yards with 13 touchdowns and rushed for 1,428 yards and 21 touchdowns and was named first-team All-Area by the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

''. Stanton completed 59 of 88 passes for 949 yards with 11 touchdowns while rushing for 386 yards and eight touchdowns on 47 carries before he suffered a season ending knee injury five games into his senior year.

College career

Stanton began his collegiate career at

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, redshirting his true freshman season. He spent his redshirt freshman season as the third string quarterback, attempting one pass which was completed for six yards. Stanton left Nebraska at the end of the school year and transferred to

Saddleback College Saddleback College (Saddleback) is a public community college in Mission Viejo, California. It is part of the California Community College system and awards over 300 associate degrees, academic certificates, and occupational skills awards in 19 ...

for the 2015 season. In his only season with the Gauchos, Stanton completed 293-of-465 passes for 3,471 yards and 27 touchdowns and also led the team in rushing with 747 yards and 12 touchdowns. Stanton led the Gauchos to the 2015 SCFA Championship and onto the JUCO National Chammpionship game against City College of San Francisco He committed to transfer to

for his final two seasons of eligibility over offers from

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

and

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. Stanton was named the Rebels' starting quarterback going into his first season with the team and completed 50-of-107 passes for 676 yards, six touchdowns and six interceptions while also rushing 231 yards and a touchdown. He suffered a season-ending injury in the fourth game of the season. As a redshirt senior, he played fullback as well as on defense and special teams and also started three games at quarterback. Stanton finished the season with 724 passing yards with four touchdown passes and two interceptions while also rushing for 96 yards and two touchdowns and recorded nine tackles on defense and blocked a punt and returned one punt for 19 yards on special teams.

Professional career

Minnesota Vikings

Stanton was signed by the

as an undrafted free agent on May 7, 2018, after participating in a rookie

minicamp A mini-camp, also spelled minicamp, is a short camp held by National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL) teams usually in spring of each year. The camp usually only lasts 3 days, but the length varies by a day or two depending ...

with the team. He was placed on season-ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on August 21, 2018, where he stayed until he was waived on January 25, 2019. He was re-signed by the Vikings to their

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 November 26, 2019. Stanton was released on December 10, 2019.

Los Angeles Wildcats

On December 17, 2019, Stanton signed with the

Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles: *Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL) The Los Angeles Wildcats (also reported in various media as Pacific Coast Wildcats, Los Angeles Wilson Wildcats and Wilson's ...

. He was waived on January 22, 2020.

Cleveland Browns

Stanton signed a reserve/futures contract with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

on January 28, 2020. He was waived at the end of training camp on September 5, 2020, and re-signed to the team's practice squad the next day. Stanton was elevated to the active roster on November 21 for the team's week 11 game against the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

, and reverted to the practice squad after the game. Stanton was signed to a reserve/futures contract by the Browns on January 18, 2021. Stanton was waived by the Browns on August 31, 2021. Stanton was re-signed to the Browns' practice squad on September 1, 2021. Stanton was signed to the Browns' active roster on October 12, 2021. In Week 7 against the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

, Stanton scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on a 1-yard pass from

Case Keenum Casey Austin Keenum (born February 17, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for Houston, where he became the NCAA's all-time leader in total passing ...

in the Browns' 17–14 win. He was released on November 2, and re-signed to the practice squad on November 4. Stanton was elevated to the Browns' active roster on November 13, 2021. The Browns signed Stanton to a reserve/futures contract on January 10, 2022. Stanton was waived by the Browns on August 30, 2022.

References

External links

Nebraska Cornhuskers bioUNLV Rebels bioCleveland Browns bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanton, Johnny 1994 births Living people American football fullbacks American football quarterbacks Cleveland Browns players Minnesota Vikings players Nebraska Cornhuskers football players People from Rancho Santa Margarita, California Players of American football from California Saddleback Gauchos football players Sportspeople from Orange County, California UNLV Rebels football players