Robert Johnson (born June 20, 1982) is an American football player, notable for his professional career in the Finnish league

Vaahteraliiga The Vaahteraliiga (Maple League) founded in 1980 is the highest level of American football in Finland played under American Football Association of Finland. The winner of the Vaahteraliiga is the Finnish champion. The Vaahteraliiga season is playe ...

. Johnson played his college career at Texas Tech and he signed overseas

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in 2007 as he wasn't drafted to NFL. He is currently an assistant coach for the United Newland Crusaders in Finland. Johnson has also played in the

Italian Football League Italian Football League (IFL) is the top level American football league in Italy established in 1980. History In the 1970's teams formed and played in Italy. In 1980 the first official American football league in Italy was established and crow ...

College career

Johnson was born in

Americus, Georgia Americus is the county seat of Sumter County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,230. It is the principal city of the Americus Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Schley an ...

, and graduated from Americus High School. He attended the

Reedley College Reedley College (Reedley or RC) is a public community college in Reedley, California. It is a part of the California Community Colleges system within the State Center Community College District (SCCCD). It is accredited by the WASC Accrediting ...

and was ranked as the number one junior college QB in the country before he attended

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. Johnson redshirted his first year and played wide receiver for the

Texas Tech Red Raiders football The Texas Tech Red Raiders football program is a college football team that represents Texas Tech University (variously "Texas Tech" or "TTU"). The team competes as a member of the Big 12 Conference, which is a NCAA Division I, Division I NCAA D ...

team 2005 and 2006. In 2005, he was awarded with the 2005 Big 12 Conference Offensive Newcomer of the Year. He had 156 receptions for 1822 and 15 touchdowns in two seasons. Johnson lead the Big 12 conference in receptions in 2006 earning all conference honors. Johnson entered to Texas Tech as a quarterback but changed position to wide receiver.U.S. players sign for Finnish and Italian teams
IFAF

Professional career

Johnson was eligible in 2007 NFL Draft but he wasn't drafted. He went to Europe and signed with the

Porvoo Butchers Porvoo (; sv, Borgå ; la, Borgoa) is a city and a municipality in the Uusimaa region of Finland, situated on the southern coast about east of the city border of Helsinki and about from the city centre. Porvoo was one of the six medieval to ...

in 2007. Johnson changed his role back to quarterback and he led his team to the Finnish Championship. Next year Johnson signed with the

Helsinki Roosters Helsinki Roosters is an American football team based in Helsinki, Finland. The team plays in the Vaahteraliiga in Finland and their home field is the Helsinki Velodrome. History Roosters were founded in 1979 and the club is a founding member of ...

and during the season he broke the league record of most passing touchdowns in one season. Johnson played with the Roosters 2008 and 2009.The Helsinki Roosters have signed quarterback Robert Johnson for the 2012 season
Europlayers In between of the seasons Johnson was part of the

Arkansas Twister Arkansas Twister is a wooden roller coaster at Magic Springs and Crystal Falls amusement park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Originally opening in 1978 as The Roaring Tiger at Circus World theme park, the roller coaster was purchased in 1991 by Magic ...

in the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

during the preseason. Johnson joined the Butchers again in 2010 and won the Finnish Championship. Johnson went to Italy for 2011 season. He played for the Catania Elephants and led the team to the semifinals. After the season in Italy was over, Johnson joined the Kouvola Indians for the remainder of the season. Johnson signed with the Helsinki Roosters in 2012. Johnson led the team to three consecutive Finnish Championships in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In 2014 Helsinki Roosters played also in the new IFAF Champions League which the team also won. Johnson injured his knee during the 2014 season and was replaced by Sean Shelton. Johnson signed with the

Turku Trojans Turku Trojans is one of the oldest American football teams in Finland, established in 1982. Turku Trojans have played in the Maple League Vaahteraliiga (highest level) in Finland operated by American Football Association of Finland. Finnish cham ...

for 2015. Johnson became head coach of the

Helsinki Wolverines Helsinki Wolverines is a Finnish American football club based in Helsinki and was founded in 1995. The clubs Top Men's Team plays in the Vaahteraliiga of the American Football Association of Finland which is the highest ranking level of American ...

in 2016. Wolverines played in the 1st Division for the time being. Johnston took over also the quarterback position for the 2017 season and led the team to division championship in 2018. He was also chosen as the player of the year of the 1st Division. Johnson played for the Helsinki Wolverines through season 2019 in Vaahteraliiga and then signed with the

United Newland Crusaders United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * United (2003 film), ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * United (2011 film) ...

. He played for the Crusaders until the end of 2021 season. In 2022 Johnson served as a head coach for the

East City Giants East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fac ...

.
SAJL

Achievement

*Big 12 Conference Offensive Newcomer of the Year, 2005 *Finnish Championship, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014 *

player of the year, 2012, 2013 *IFAF Champions League title, 2014 *Finnish 1st Division player of the year, 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Robert 1982 births Living people American football quarterbacks American football wide receivers Texas Tech Red Raiders football players People from Americus, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state) Arkansas Twisters players Reedley Tigers football players American expatriate sportspeople in Finland American expatriate sportspeople in Italy American expatriate players of American football 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people