Former Steelers great and Hall of Fame running back John Henry Johnson passed away on Friday at the age of 81 after an extended illness.
Johnson was a member of the title winning Lions in 1957 and had his best statistical seasons with Steelers. He was best know as being part of the “Million Dollar Backfield” in the mid-1950s with the Niners.
When Johnson retired following the 1966 season, only Jim Brown, Jim Taylor and Perry had more career rushing yards. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.
Johnson was #29 in my book “100 Things Every Steelers Fan Should Know and Do Before They Die.” Here’s a part of the chapter on Johnson.
Before the days of Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker, the Steelers real first workhorse back was a 210-pound fullback named John Henry Johnson. He was the clubs number two draft pick in 1953, but didn’t actually play for the Steelers till 1960, as he started in Canada, where he was the MVP in just one season, and then played for the 49’ers and Lions before finally landing in the Steel city.
He was known as a great blocker in his day, and also had soft hands which also made him a dangerous pass catcher out of the backfield. He was truly a fullback in a halfback’s body, able to use both speed and power to become of the best backs and one of the most underrated in NFL history.
Johnson’s best seasons as a pro, which spanned 12 seasons, was when he was in a Steelers uniform. From 1960 to 1965, Johnson was the clubs best back, rushing for over 1000 yards in 1962 and 1964, when it wasn’t commonplace in the NFL to put up 1,000 yard seasons. Johnson was the first player in NFL history to put up over 1000 yards rushing in a season. His best year with Pittsburgh came in 1962, when he went for 1141 yards and 7 touchdowns, putting up 4.5 yards per carry.
During his tenure with the Steelers, he also had seasons of rushing for 621 yards (1960), 787 yards in 1961, 773 yards in 1963 and then his second 1000+ yard season came in 1964 as he scored 7 touchdowns that season. He ran for 26 touchdowns in those five seasons, as his final year in Pittsburgh he played in just one game.
Johnson also was a great pass catcher as stated above. He caught 32 passes in the 1962 season for 262 yards and another score. In his six years with the Steelers, he had 106 catches for 814 yards. Johnson seemed to be all about firsts, as he was the first player in a Steelers uniform to rush for 200 yards in a game. On October 10th, 1964 against the rival Browns, Johnson rushed for 200 yards on 30 carries, as the Steelers pulled off a major upset at the time, beating the then powerful Browns 23-7. He was just the 9th player all-time as of that time to put up 200 yards or more in a game rushing.
His career wrapped up in 1966, playing 14 games for the Houston Oilers, rushing for 226 yards. In his six seasons with the Steelers, he rushed for 4381 yards on 1006 carries, an average of 4.4 yards per carry average. He’s still highly regarded as one of the best Steeler backs of all-time, fourth all-time on the most rushing yards list behind just Franco Harris, Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker.
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