Rob Johnson (born February 10, 1973) is an American former professional soccer player who is now an assistant coach with the

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

's men's soccer team. He attended

Jackson Memorial High School Jackson Memorial High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades in Jackson Township, in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States, opened in 1963 as part of the Jackson School Dist ...

Jackson Township, New Jersey Jackson Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the township population was 58,544. A portion of the township is located within the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Roughly equidistant be ...

, graduating from the school in 1991. At Jackson, he also competed in

track and field athletics Track and field is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of ...

, with his best efforts in high school including running the 40 yard dash in 4.4 seconds, a

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a gr ...

of 21 feet 6 inches and a

high jump The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump unaided over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without dislodging it. In its modern, most-practiced format, a bar is placed between two standards with a crash mat f ...

of 6 feet eight inches. Johnson was a two-time state champion in wrestling and was recognized with all-state honors during his senior year in both wrestling and track and field. In 1999, he was named by ''

The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to ''The Jersey Journal'' of Jersey City, ''The Times'' of Trenton and the '' Staten Island Advance'', all of wh ...

'' as one of the top ten New Jersey high school soccer players of the 1990s. Johnson was one of four of the ''Star-Ledgers top 10 players of the 1990s who played for the New York/New Jersey MetroStars/Red Bulls, joining

Claudio Reyna Claudio Reyna (born July 20, 1973) is an American former professional soccer player and current executive. He most recently served as sporting director of Austin FC. A former midfielder, he spent most of his professional career in Europe, pla ...

Petter Villegas Petter Villegas (born November 15, 1975 in Esmeraldas) is an Ecuadorian-born Puerto Rican footballer who played for Puerto Rico Islanders in the North American Soccer League. Career Youth and college Villegas came to the United States with hi ...

and Billy Walsh. Johnson played college soccer at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

.Yannis, Alex
"SOCCER; Rutgers Is No. 1, With a Bullet"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', October 24, 1991. Accessed August 26, 2008. Johnson scored 35 goals and 20 assists in his four seasons at Rutgers, with his 90 points ranking him 6th all-time at Rutgers. He scored 13 goals and nine assists as a freshman, and followed that with 13 goals and seven assists in his sophomore year, leading the team to the NCAA tournament semifinals in 1994. He played for the

New York/New Jersey MetroStars New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

in the 1996 season after being recalled from the North Jersey Imperials. In his three seasons with the MetroStars (mostly in 1996, plus two games in 1997 and a single game in 1999), he scored four goals and had three assists. He played his first game with the team on June 19, 1996, a scoreless tie against the Dallas Burn (now known as

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise be ...

). His first goal came on July 24, 1996, the game winner for the MetroStars in a 1–0 victory over the San Jose Clash (now the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

). He played in three playoff games with the MetroStars in 1996. On October 2, 1996, a last-minute foul by Johnson on

DC United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Su ...

Marco Etcheverry Marco Antonio Etcheverry Vargas (born 26 September 1970) is a Bolivian retired professional footballer who played as a forward. A creative playmaker, he is considered one of the greatest Bolivian players of all time. Etcheverry played for D.C. U ...

led to a penalty kick that effectively ended the Metros' season. Johnson came back to the MetroStars in 1999 on a one-game loan from the

Staten Island Vipers The Staten Island Vipers were a soccer club that competed in the USL A-League in 1998 and 1999. The club was based on Staten Island, New York City. The team played its games at Tottenville High School and Wagner College. The team dissolved follow ...

.#23 Rob Johnson
MetroFanatic.com. Accessed December 25, 2018. Johnson had been a head coach at

Gloucester County College Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ) is a public community college with two campuses in New Jersey, including one in Sewell (Gloucester Main Campus) and one in Vineland and Millville (Cumberland Branch Campus). The college was established in ...

and is now an assistant coach at

.Rob Johnson

CSTV CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

. Accessed August 26, 2008.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Rob 1973 births Living people American soccer players American soccer coaches Major League Soccer players New York Red Bulls players North Jersey Imperials players Staten Island Vipers players Hershey Wildcats players Richmond Kickers players Philadelphia KiXX players Sportspeople from Jackson Township, New Jersey Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's soccer players Rutgers University alumni Temple Owls men's soccer coaches Soccer players from New Jersey Association footballers not categorized by position