Nathan Elijah Johnson (June 19, 1920 – August 24, 2004) was 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 ...

tackle. Johnson was born in

Dale, Illinois Dale is an unincorporated community which is located in Hamilton County, Illinois, United States. The elevation of Dale is 400 feet. The community is in the Wabash Valley Seismic Zone The Wabash Valley Seismic Zone (also known as the Wabash Vall ...

in 1920 and attended Benton High School in

Benton, Illinois Benton is a city in and the county seat of Franklin County, Illinois. The population was 6,709 at the 2020 census. History Founding Benton, the county seat of Franklin County, took its name from the prominent senator from Missouri, Thomas H ...

. He played college football at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. He was selected as the most valuable player on the

1941 Illinois Fighting Illini football team The 1941 Illinois Fighting Illini football team was an American football team that represented the University of Illinois during the 1941 Big Ten Conference football season. In their 29th and final season under head coach Robert Zuppke, the Ill ...

. He played professional football in the

All-America Football Conference The All-America Football Conference (AAFC) was a professional American football league that challenged the established National Football League (NFL) from 1946 to 1949. One of the NFL's most formidable challengers, the AAFC attracted many of the ...

for the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Amer ...

in 1946 and 1947 and the

Chicago Rockets The Chicago Rockets were an American football team that played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949. During the 1949 season, the team was known as the Chicago Hornets. Unlike the Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers, an ...

Hornets Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...

in 1947 and 1948. He was traded by the Yankees to the Rockets in May 1948 in exchange for fullback Bill Daley. When the AAFC disbanded, he played 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

New York Yanks The New York Yanks were an American football team that played in the National Football League under that name in the 1950 and 1951 seasons. Season by season overview 1949 The team began in 1944 as the Boston Yanks, owned by Kate Smith's manage ...

in 1950. He appeared in 65 professional football games, 49 of them as a starter. He died in 2004 in

Freeport, Illinois Freeport is the county seat and largest city of Stephenson County, Illinois, United States. The population was 23,973 at the 2020 census, and the mayor of Freeport is Jodi Miller, elected in 2017. Freeport is known for hosting the second Linc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Nate 1920 births 2004 deaths People from Hamilton County, Illinois American football tackles New York Yankees (AAFC) players Chicago Rockets players Chicago Hornets players New York Yanks players Illinois Fighting Illini football players Players of American football from Illinois