Patriots fullback Jakob Johnson has a special story.
He’s come a long way both literally and figuratively, a path to New England that’s symbolized by the German flag on the back of Johnson’s helmet. He himself is a symbol of the NFL’s efforts to grow its game on a global scale.
Johnson was born in Stuttgart, Germany and played his college football at Tennessee. After a year playing for the Stuttgart Scorpions of the German Football League in 2018, Johnson arrived in New England in 2019 as part of the NFL’s International Player Pathway Program.
Having started 11 of the 16 games he played for the Patriots a year ago, Bill Belichick has noted that Johnson has come as far as any player on the Patriots roster. In training camp this summer he continues to work his craft as the only fullback on the roster and hone his versatility, filling in last week at tight end when injuries decimated the summer depth chart at that position.
“The more you can do is kind of what they say around here. So I just try to help out where I can, and try to provide reps for the team, and help the team win. I hope to be a German Army Knife, if that makes sense,” Jakob said with a smile. “I try to carve out a role on this team, and help the team win, so whatever that means, I'm all for it."
Not surprisingly, he’s also very much for the NFL’s efforts to spread its game around the world, work that Johnson sees paying off firsthand. On a visit back home to Germany this offseason, the first player from the NFL International Player Pathway Program to score an NFL touchdown – Johnson’s 1-yard catch in Seattle against the Seahawks last September – realized he’s now a bit of celebrity in his home country.
“When I go home, I used to be able to just walk around the city, and not get recognized. Nowadays, so many people are watching football that I get recognized. It was very weird for me, if I'm honest with you,” Johnson said. “My experience playing now for the Patriots, if I compare it to my time in college, I played for the Tennessee Volunteers, and at the time, there was no international broadcast of those games. There were no NFL games that were being broadcast in the German language, except for say the Super Bowl and the AFC and NFC Championship Games. That has completely changed. The NFL has provided a way for German broadcasting, Brazilian broadcasting, and that changed the game completely.”
As Johnson lives out his NFL dreams on the forefront of the league’s global brand expansion, he proudly wears the German flag on his helmet that signifies his part in that effort.
“Oh man, it's cool,” Johnson said of the flag decal. “I know, especially here we're usually not big on everybody having their individual little things. It's more like everybody wears the same uniform, everybody wears the same gear, but just to have that acknowledgement from the NFL that they are interested in growing the game and they're acknowledging some of our unique paths to making it here, that's awesome. My guy Sandro [Platzgummer, Giants running back] was out here today from Austria. I saw him when he came through the international program, and just to see that part of the game grow means a lot to maybe not you guys, but it means a lot to the kids overseas. When I was back home training this offseason, making it to the league was never a thing that I think was a viable option for people that played football overseas. But little symbols like that make it real, and provide a perspective for the kids that are growing on that path over there."