Hall of Fame defensive back Jimmy Johnson has died at 86

N.F.L

By Associated Press

Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Jimmy Johnson, a three-time All-Pro and member of the All-Decade Team of the 1970s, has died. He was 86.

Johnson’s family told the Pro Football Hall of Fame that he died Wednesday evening at home in the San Francisco area after a long illness.

Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994, Johnson played his entire 16-year pro career with San Francisco. He played in 213 games, more than any other 49ers player at the time of his retirement.

“Jimmy Johnson was extremely athletically talented,” said Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. “The 49ers enjoyed the luxury of using him on offense and defense early in his career to meet the team’s needs. Once he settled in at left cornerback, he blossomed. The idea that a lockdown cornerback could cut the field in half for the opposition was true for Jimmy. Only rarely did other teams’ quarterbacks even look in his direction, and more often than not they regretted the decision when they challenged him.

The 49ers drafted Johnson sixth overall out of UCLA in 1961 — the upstart AFL’s Chargers took him in the fourth round of that league’s draft — and he almost immediately became a starter at cornerback.

He had five interceptions as a rookie.

But he was so versatile that the Niners used Johnson on offense in 1962, when he made 34 receptions for 627 yards and scored four touchdowns.

However, preventing opponents from amassing such statistics was his forte, and by 1964 Johnson was a regular.

He remained there until his retirement after the 1976 season, totaling 47 interceptions, two of which were returned for scores, and building a reputation as a stingy cover man with a nose for the ball.

“Jimmy embodied the essence of what it meant to be a 49er,” the team said in a statement. “He was the ultimate gentleman and will be remembered for his humility, kindness and sympathetic attitude.”

In 1971, during a three-year run as an All-Pro, Johnson won the George Halas Award for courageous play.

“It takes work, cornering and cornering to be the best you can be,” Johnson said upon entering the Hall of Fame. “So basically I feel like I’m standing here today and I never reached that level, I never could be as good a footballer as I could be. But thanks to God and my inner talent, I was able to paint a picture to the people who voted for the Hall of Fame, and my longevity and the level of play I played from my rookie season to my last. That in this wonderful year of 1994, I have been given the opportunity, the glorious opportunity, to become a member of the most wonderful association: the National Football League Hall of Fame.

It got to the point where Johnson was at his peak that opponents rarely threw shots his way. He was Deion Sanders long before “Prime Time” hit the NFL.

“Jim doesn’t get much publicity because the opposition avoids him as much as possible,” San Francisco quarterback John Brodie once said. “Talk to veteran quarterbacks like John Unitas and Bart Starr and they’ll tell you there are few passing patterns in Jimmy’s zone. The only reason Johnson doesn’t lead the league in interceptions is because he doesn’t get the opportunity.”

Former 49ers coach Dick Nolan once said Johnson was a better cornerback than two of his other players, (Hall of Famer) Mel Renfro and (two-time All-Pro) Cornell Green with the Cowboys.

Olympic decathlon champion Rafer Johnson’s brother, Jimmy Johnson, played both ways at UCLA.

He was a fullback on offense and a defensive back, while also competing in track as a hurdler and broad jumper.

His brother was Johnson’s anchor anchor at the Canton, Ohio, venue.

“Rafer Johnson is basically my hero and that in itself is amazing,” Jimmy Johnson said that day. “Most young men growing up usually have a hero in another town, another town, another country, and they will write to this person, get a signed photo and then stick that photo on the wall and worship that photo, for play that picture. and be inspired by that photo. For me there is no such problem.

‘I had a brother who lived with me every day, with whom I could talk, ask the relevant questions, get the relevant feedback and be corrected in my direction if necessary. I have to say I have to give Brother Rafer credit for everything I have accomplished in athletics. And I wish we could split this trophy, this bust of myself, right down the middle, because he certainly deserves half of it.