Reigning AFC Offensive Player of the Week Mike White appeared to be well on his way to another big game Thursday night in Indianapolis (121.4 passer rating on 11 attempts) when a right forearm injury led to his departure in the first quarter. With Joe Flacco a healthy scratch (why the Jets would trade a sixth-round pick for Flacco only to bury him on their QB depth chart is beyond comprehension), the shorthanded Jets turned to veteran backup Josh Johnson, who you might know from … literally everywhere.
Johnson, as his Wikipedia entry would suggest, is as well-traveled as any player in football, playing for 12 teams since debuting as a fifth-round pick in 2008. The 6’3” journeyman’s NFL career has brought him to Tampa Bay, San Francisco, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Baltimore, Houston, Oakland, Washington and now New York for his second stint with the Jets (he also played for the Giants in 2016). Johnson, who, before this season, had not played an NFL down since 2018 with Washington (he started three games in place of Alex Smith that year), seemed to pique people’s interest with many on social media marveling at his novel-length resume, including stops in the XFL and the similarly short-lived Alliance of American Football.
Those same fans were also tickled to learn Johnson was a high-school teammate of former Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (who happens to be Johnson's cousin) and played under coach Jim Harbaugh at the University of San Diego.
They say life is about the journey, not the destination, a philosophy that perfectly encapsulates the 35-year-old’s sprawling, chaotic career spanning cities in nearly every region of the United States. Johnson’s NFL earnings will soon surpass $8 million, and he’s had to fight and claw for every cent of it. In all likelihood, Johnson will go back to holding a clipboard next week, but for two glorious hours Thursday night, he was the talk of Twitter.
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