Mitchell Allen Johnson (born March 1, 1942) 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 wi ...

offensive tackle in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

for the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

, Los Angeles Rams and

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 (A ...

. He played college football at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Early years

Johnson attended Centennial High School, before moving on to

Los Angeles State College California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) is a public university in Los Angeles, California. It is part of the 23-campus California State University (CSU) system. Cal State LA offers 142 bachelor's degrees, 122 master's degrees, ...

. He transferred to

after his sophomore season, becoming a two-year starter at

left tackle Tackle is a playing position in gridiron football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a tackle played on both offense and defense. In the modern system of specialized units, o ...

. In addition to his talents as a blocker, his athletic ability allowed him to score two

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Amer ...

s on

tackle-eligible play In football, the tackle-eligible play is a forward-pass play in which coaches will attempt to create mismatches against a defense by inserting an offensive tackle (who is not normally allowed more than five yards down field on a forward-pass pl ...

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Johnson was selected in the seventeenth round (229th overall) of the

1965 NFL Draft The 1965 National Football League draft was held at the Summit Hotel in New York City on Saturday, November 28, 1964. The first player selected was Tucker Frederickson, back from Auburn, by the New York Giants. The draft was marked by the fail ...

by the

and became the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

offensive lineman to make the team in franchise history. On August 30, 1966, he was traded along with

Brig Owens Brigman Owens (February 16, 1943 – June 21, 2022) was an American professional football player who was a safety in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. He played college football at the University o ...

and

Jake Kupp Jacob Ralph Kupp (born March 12, 1941) is a former American football Guard (American football), guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. He played college football ...

, to the

in exchange for

Jim Steffen James William Steffen (May 1, 1936 – April 23, 2015) was an American football defensive back in the National Football League for the Detroit Lions, Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys. He was NFL Draft, drafted in the thirteenth round of the ...

and a fifth round draft choice (#119-

Willie Parker William Everett Parker Jr. (born November 11, 1980) is an American former football running back who played for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for North Carolina, he ...

Washington Redskins (first stint)

In 1966, he was named the starter at

. In

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Janu ...

, he was placed on the

injured reserve list 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 ...

with a dislocated hip and was lost for the season. The next year, he was traded to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for two draft choices.

Los Angeles Rams

Johnson played two seasons as a reserve offensive tackle with the Los Angeles Rams. On August 11, 1971, he was traded along with a fifth round pick (#128-Greg Kucera) to the

in exchange for Joe Taffoni.

Cleveland Browns

Although Johnson had previously announced his retirement, on July 31,

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...

, he was traded to the

along with a 1974 eighth round selection (#196-Darwin Robinson) in exchange for a 1973 third round draft choice (#54- Paul Howard).

Washington Redskins (second stint)

On September 14,

, he was moved from the regular roster to the

taxi 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, ...

Florida Blazers (WFL)

On June, 23, 1974, he signed a contract with the

Florida Blazers The Florida Blazers were an American football team who played in the World Football League in 1974. The team moved to San Antonio in 1975 and became the San Antonio Wings. History The Blazers began in 1974 when oceanographic engineer E. Joseph W ...

and played one season in the World Football League. He helped

Tommy Reamon Tommy Reamon (born March 12, 1952) is a retired African-American professional football player, who has worked as an actor, and is currently an educator in the Hampton Roads region of Virginia. As a high school football coach, Reamon has had som ...

become one of the league's Tri- MVP's and its leading rusher.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Mitch 1942 births Living people Players of American football from Chicago American football offensive tackles Florida Blazers players UCLA Bruins football players Cal State Los Angeles Diablos football players Dallas Cowboys players Washington Redskins players Los Angeles Rams players Cleveland Browns players Los Angeles State College alumni