Ronald Johnson (born August 3, 1988) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a wide receiver. 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 ...

for the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC), located in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ' ...

. Johnson was selected by the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

in the sixth round of the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

High school

Johnson attended

Muskegon High School Muskegon High School is a public high school located in Muskegon, Michigan, and was the first high school in Muskegon County, Michigan. History The Class of 1875, consisting of two girls, was the first from Muskegon High School. Records show ...

Muskegon, Michigan Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expa ...

. He was rated as the best recruit in Michigan in the class of 2007 by

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

. He had 1,600 all-purpose yards as a wide receiver on offense in 2006, including 700 receiving yards on 26 catches (26.9 avg.) with 7 touchdowns and 347 rushing yards on 30 carries (11.6 avg.) with 4 touchdowns, 180 yards on 7 kickoff returns (25.7 avg.), 218 yards on 11 punt returns (19.8 avg.), and 3 touchdowns as a cornerback. Muskegon went 14-0 and won the 2004 and 2006 State Championship. Johnson chose to attend USC after being recruited by many other top schools including

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

, and Notre Dame.

College career

Following the departures of

Dwayne Jarrett Dwayne Jarrett (born September 11, 1986) is a former American football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played college football for the University of Southern California (USC), and was recogniz ...

and

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics * Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager * Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, ...

, Johnson made an immediate impact after arriving at USC. He joined junior

Patrick Turner Patrick Steven Turner (born May 19, 1987) is a former American football wide receiver. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft. He played college football at USC Trojans football, Southern California. He was ...

who was the most experienced returner at the position. Johnson has been clocked at 4.4 seconds in the 40 yard dash.

2007-2008

Johnson began his freshman season making several contributions. In the season opener against

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

, he ran 4 yards on a reverse. He caught his first pass against

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 ...

for 4 yards. Against

Washington State Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...

, he had 5 receptions for 94 yards and 2 touchdowns and a tackle. Johnson returned 3 kickoffs for 65 yards against

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 o ...

. Against

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is considere ...

, he had a 47-yard touchdown catch, a 23-yard run off a reverse, and 3 kickoff returns for 61 yards. Johnson returned 3 kickoffs for 73 yards and a 6-yard run against

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. Against Notre Dame, Johnson had a 37-yard kickoff return. He returned 4 kickoffs for 96 yards and had a tackle against

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 ...

. Against

Oregon State Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering col ...

, he returned a kickoff for 41 yards. In one of his biggest games of the season, he returned 4 kickoffs for 102 yards against

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In another big game, Johnson had a 33-yard catch and returned 3 kickoffs for 94 yards. Against rival

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 St ...

, he returned a kickoff for 17 yards. In the

2008 Rose Bowl The 2008 Rose Bowl Game presented by Citi, the 94th Rose Bowl Game, played on January 1, 2008 at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California, was a college football bowl game. The contest was televised on ABC, the 20th straight year the network ...

, Johnson caught 2 passes for 15 yards and returned 2 kickoffs for 34 yards against

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 ...

2008-2009

During his sophomore season, Johnson continued to return kickoffs and remained a deep threat against opposing defenses. He ranks 13th on USC's career kickoff return chart (620 yards). In the

2009 Rose Bowl The 2009 Rose Bowl, the 95th edition of the annual game, was a college football bowl game played on Thursday, January 1, 2009 at the same-named stadium in Pasadena, California. Because of sponsorship by Citi, the first game in the 2009 editio ...

, Johnson had 4 receptions for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns.

2009-2010

At the end of August 2009 Johnson broke his thumb in USC's mock-game scrimmage at the Coliseum.

Professional career

San Francisco 49ers

Johnson was selected by the

with the 172nd pick in the

. He was released by the 49ers on September 3, 2011.

Philadelphia Eagles

Johnson was signed to 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 ...

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 September 5, 2011. He was promoted to the active roster on December 31. He was not active for the final game of the season, however. During training camp in 2012, Johnson suffered a broken and dislocated ankle in a practice. He was waived/injured on July 31, 2012, and subsequently reverted to the team's

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 ...

on August 2. He was released from his contract on April 11, 2013.

Seattle Seahawks

On July 31, 2014, Johnson was signed by the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

Toronto Argonauts

Johnson was signed by the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

on April 9, 2015. He was released by the Argonauts on June 14, 2015.

West Michigan Ironmen

In 2016, Johnson joined the

West Michigan Ironmen The West Michigan Ironmen are a professional indoor football team based in Muskegon, Michigan (and representing the larger region which also includes Grand Rapids and Holland), the Ironmen play their home games at Mercy Health Arena. The team jo ...

American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) was a professional indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the East Coast of the United ...

References

External links

*
Philadelphia Eagles bio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Ronald 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Muskegon, Michigan Players of American football from Michigan American football wide receivers USC Trojans football players San Francisco 49ers players Philadelphia Eagles players Seattle Seahawks players West Michigan Ironmen players