Keyshawn Johnson

Joseph Keyshawn Johnson (born July 22, 1972) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons.

He played college football for the USC Trojans, and earned All-American honors twice.

He was the third wide receiver selected with the number one overall pick since Irving Fryar was chosen by the New England Patriots in 1984.

After sitting out the following year to get his affairs in order, Johnson returned to football in 1992, and performed well enough to earn himself a transfer to University of Southern California, where he played for coach John Robinson's USC Trojans football team in 1994 and 1995.

In 1994, he finished with 66 catches for 1,362 yards and 9 touchdowns.

After the 1994 college season, Johnson helped lead the Trojans to a win in the 1995 Cotton Bowl Classic, after which he was named the game's Most Valuable Player.

In 1995, he finished with 102 catches for 1,434 yards and 7 touchdowns.

As a Trojan, he was twice recognized as an All-American selection.

He was selected first overall by the New York Jets in the 1996 NFL Draft.

He also played professionally for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers.

He was one of three wide receivers to be taken first overall in NFL draft history and the most recent.

The Trojans then played in the 1996 Rose Bowl, during which Johnson caught 12 passes for a Rose Bowl record 216 yards and one touchdown in the Trojans' 41–32 victory over the Northwestern Wildcats.

He was named the Player of the Game.

The New York Jets drafted Johnson with the top overall selection in the 1996 NFL Draft.

Johnson graduated from USC with a B.A. in social sciences and history in 1997.

While in New York, he played three seasons (1997–1999) under Bill Parcells, who in two seasons would turnaround the Jets from 1–15 in 1996, Johnson's rookie year to 9–7 in 1997 and 12–4 in 1998 and the franchise's first ever AFC East Division title.

One of his best performances was in a 34–24 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in an AFC divisional playoff game after the 1998 season.

In that game, Johnson caught nine passes for 121 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 28 yards and a touchdown, recovered a fumble, and intercepted a pass on defense.

The Jets however, fell one game short of the Super Bowl after losing the AFC Championship Game the next week to the Denver Broncos 23–10.

Johnson wrote an autobiography with ESPN's Shelley Smith, Just Give Me the Damn Ball.

The book covered his rookie year experiences.

Johnson was traded on April 12, 2000 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for two first round draft choices (13th – John Abraham – and 27th – Anthony Becht – overall) in the 2000 NFL Draft.

Soon after Johnson arrived in Tampa Bay, they signed him to an 8-year, $56 million contract extension with the Buccaneers that made him the highest-paid wide receiver in the NFL.

At that time he was joining a team that had fallen one game short of the Super Bowl the previous season.

In 2002 Johnson went on to win a Super Bowl with the Buccaneers after the arrival of new head coach Jon Gruden, who succeeded Tony Dungy.

During his tenure with the Buccaneers, Johnson was a member of the team that won Superbowl XXXVII in 2003.

He retired from football following the 2006 season, and spent seven years as a television broadcaster for the sports channel ESPN.

He is one of the co-hosts of the FS1 weekday morning debate show Undisputed with Richard Sherman, Michael Irvin and Skip Bayless.

Johnson was born in Los Angeles, California.

He attended Palisades High School for his sophomore and junior years and then Susan Miller Dorsey High School, also in Los Angeles, for his senior year.

Though a standout prospect at football, Johnson's early life was plagued by gang crime and legal troubles.

In eighth grade, he spent nine months in a California youth facility after being arrested for possession of marijuana, cocaine and a concealed handgun.

His low SAT scores forced him to start his college football career in community college.

In Johnson's first year at West Los Angeles College, he lasted just 8 games.

Eventually he just stopped showing up for practice.

"For years, I was the good kid, but I was curious and it eventually got the best of me," he later wrote.

"I started hanging out with the wrong crowd and got myself into trouble."

He was inducted into the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame on December 31, 2008.

While in college, Johnson appeared on the TV show Coach, as a player eligible for draft in the upcoming season.

He flatly refused to be recruited to the fictional "Orlando Breakers" team for coach Hayden Fox, stating he would go to Canada to play first.