The real Shawn Johnson story

[Colter_Nuanez]

I profiled Shawn Johnson following the Eastern Washington game, one of his best of the season. Shawn is a very reserved, polite, soft-spoken kid who gets really nervous doing interviews. He never liked doing press conferences and stuff.

I interviewed him for my profile and it was going great, talking about the adversity he had to overcome sitting behind Cody Kirk, Tray Robinson and Orenzo Davis, talking about him in the weight room and getting a college degree.

I started to ask him about his family. He talked for a moment, then just said, 'Hey man, do you mind if we just don't talk about that and you not write about them?" You could tell it made him sad to think about. I never could find out much about his back story, but I did know former Bobcat quarterback Brian Nixon was his high school coach, got him recruited by MSU and brought him on his official visit to Bozeman.

On senior day, Shawn was accompanied by Don and Christie Kessler, the parents of Cody Kessler, USC's starting QB and Johnson's starting QB in high school.

Today, this story came out. The writing is somewhat below average, but the content of the story is heartwarming and great. Shawn never had a dad and his mom fell on hard times, so he lived with his grandma. She moved to Vegas and he had no where to go. He's already changed schools half a dozen times. The Kesslers took him in. Give it a read. The part where they are talking about when he moved in, he literally had nothing made me cry.

Regardless of if Shawn Johnson goes to the NFL or not, this is what this is all about. Montana State gave this kid a chance in life and a degree.

http://footballmatters.org/stories/john ... ium=social" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[SonomaCat]

Wow, yeah ... it's hard not to tear up a bit reading that. With all of the negativity we often see around college athletics, this really reminds us about some of the incredibly positive things it can provide ... along with good friends and family (blood or not).

[specscat]

Wow, yeah ... it's hard not to tear up a bit reading that. With all of the negativity we often see around college athletics, this really reminds us about some of the incredibly positive things it can provide ... along with good friends and family (blood or not).

+1000

Many of us fans do not know the players stories. Shawn had a lot of adversity to overcome.

[wbtfg]

I've always been a big fan of Shawn Johnson the football player. Now I'm a huge fan of Shawn Johnson the man.

Thanks for posting, colter

[LongTimeCatFan]

Wow! Great story. We all have to struggle in our lives and it's easy to forget how much more the struggle is for others. Truly an endearing and amazing story. SJ will be a great success, I have no doubt.

[vike_king]

Fantastic, thanks Colter.

And thank you for the great football Shawn!

[allcat]

That was something I noticed on Senior day, I thought they were someone local. The story is very inspiring.

[NewEra]

I have always been a huge fan of Shawn and what he has accomplished here. This story is fantastic and a real tear jerker to say the least. Wish him nothing but the best.

[MSUcantouchus]

There was an article when he was recruited that talked about this as well.

[FTG247365]

He will hold a couple records here for years to come, thanks for choosing MSU.

Makes me think if say half of his big returns, being kick off or punt return's, weren't called back he would have another 1,000 yards. Just this year didn't he have 3 TD's off returns called back, this is a fair guess. Plus he had several long non TD' run's over the 4 years that were called back. I'll always remember the Eastern game this year, every other time he touched the ball it was either a TD or a huge gain.

A big thanks to the Kessler family for being there for such a great young man and help SJ see his dream come true.

[Anacomando]

You know it makes you think when he had his fumble problems and the fans raged on him, that they had no idea the realities he faced. There are more to some players then helmets and shoulder pads. Everyone has a story.

[KittieKop]

Cried my way through that one.

I hope stories like that put some perspective in the arguments about what's right and what's wrong at MSU and the football program. THAT is a great success story.

[webdav]

SJ in life as in football — sometimes you try to make something out of nothing and lose a couple yards. But other times, you make a bold move and gain a lot. Go Shawn, go.

[catsrback76]

Great story that does tell the other side of things! Nothing worse than feeling alone. He's in the Bobcat family forever!!!

[cats2506]

There was an article when he was recruited that talked about this as well.

Yeah, I remember reading about it when he was recruited too.

[BWahlberg]

I've always been a big fan of Shawn Johnson the football player. Now I'm a huge fan of Shawn Johnson the man.

Thanks for posting, colter

Agreed. I've always had respect for him as a player because he's so damn good. To overcome this kind of adversity in life shows that he's got a very bright future. I wish him nothing but the best!