CHRISTMAS CRYSTAL BALL: A Journeyman Returns
Published continually since 1994
My friends, THE GURU enters Week Seventeen in the Christmas spirit and with something to play for: good old-fashioned pride.
Sure, my postseason hopes were dashed weeks ago when injuries overwhelmed My Beloved Commies like an all-you-can-eat taco special exerting its will over FATBACK HOBBS. Yet, many teams and players enter this weekend with plenty of stake, even if the playoffs are no longer a possibility.
One of those men is a quarterback, a career journeyman who simply refuses to give up or give in. A man who has played for more NFL teams - 14 - than any player in history. And today he gets the start for Washington (4-11, 2-5 home) against visiting Dallas (6-8-1, 2-5 away).
Joshua Javon Johnson, better known as “Josh,” entered the league in 2008 as a fifth-round draft pick of the Tampa Bay Bucs after a stellar career at the University of San Diego, a Division I FCS school under Jim Harbaugh. Yes, that Jim Harbaugh, a first-time head coach who once referred to Johnson as “a beloved son.” The duo won a lot of games at USD and, when Harbaugh departed for Stanford before his QB’s senior season, Johnson continued his lights-out play, throwing for 43 touchdowns and just one INT.
When Johnson arrived in the NFL a year later, Jon Gruden was entering his final season as head coach and the staff included a bunch of notable assistants, such as Jon’s brother, Jay, and a wunderkind named Sean McVay. Jeff Garcia (11 starts) and Brian Griese (5) shared quarterbacking duties for the team, which started hot at 9-3 before losing its final four games to finish shy of the playoffs. Gruden and GM Bruce Allen were summarily dismissed.
(Note: if this story sounds familiar, it should. Much of it is based upon a Dec. 15, 2022, column I wrote when Johnson was about to start for San Fran.)
Johnson earned four starts the next season, going 0-4, and stayed with Tampa through the 2011 campaign. And that’s when he really turned into a traveling man.
In 2012, he was with three organizations — the 49ers, the United Football League’s Sacramento Mountain Lions and the Cleveland Browns. Then, there was relative calm, spending time with the Bengals (2013) and reuniting with Harbaugh in San Francisco (2014). Then came a whirlwind 2015.
Indeed, in that calendar year, he spent time with four AFC teams - Cincinnati (again), Jets, Colts, and Bills - and followed that by playing for the Ravens and Giants the next season. Then, it was 2017 in Houston with the Texans before enjoying his greatest pro success in 2018.
He started that year in Oakland before being drafted first overall by the San Diego Fleet of the Alliance of American Football. But, before he could suit up in the AAF, he was called to DC where he joined a Washington club in the thick of the NFC playoff race.
Improbably, Johnson was forced into action due to injuries to Alex Smith, Colt McCoy and Mark Sanchez and he delivered while starting an NFL game for the first time in seven years. Yup, after learning his teammates’ names by playing “Madden,” Johnson beat the Jaguars in a critical late-season matchup for his first - and only - victory of his NFL career. And, for an encore, he nearly led the team to an upset of Tennessee the following weekend.
From there - please hang with me - it was back on the road with a stop in Dee-troit (2019), back to San Fran (2020-21), and then onto the Jets (2021), Ravens (2021), and Denver (2022). Next was a fourth stop with the Niners (2022) and two years with Baltimore (2023-24), his first multi-year stint with a franchise since joining the Bucs out of USD. And, oh yes, for good measure, our travelin’ man spent part of the 2020 season with the Los Angeles Wildcats of Vince McMahon’s XFL.
If you’re counting - and I know it’s difficult - Johnson has been with 17 organizations in 18 years in four different leagues. He’s been employed four times by the Niners, three times by Baltimore and done two stints each with Cincy, the Jets and the Skins. He’s also had two sets of brothers as head coaches - the Harbaughs and the Grudens - and yet has started just nine NFL games, posting a 1-8 record.
Indeed, the man has signed more contracts than Kevin Bacon’s agent and, as we sit here on Christmas, the QB gets an unexpected present: a start against the archrival Cowboys. Wouldn’t it be nice to see this weathered warrior come up big and lead My Beloved Commies to an epic win?
The odds are long today with the team further beset by injuries - no left tackle Laremy Tunsil, no defensive tackle Daron Payne - but I’ve got a good feeling and, no sir, that’s not the eggnog talking. Yet.
Call it 19-17, Washington, and you can catch all the action on - yes - Netflix at 1 pm. Ian Eagle, Nate Burleson and Matt Ryan are on the mike, and you can expect Johnson to use his legs to make plays today…
…in the 4:30 pm game, we’ve got Ian’s son, Noah, handling broadcasting duties for a Netflix affair between the Lions (8-7, 3-4 away) and the host Vikings (7-8, 2-4 home).
He’ll be joined by Drew Brees, AJ Ross, and Dianna Russini. Take Dee-troit by a field goal with Minnesota QB JJ McCarthy on the shelf…
…in the 8:15 pm nightcap on Prime, I’m picking the visiting Broncos (12-3, 5-2 away) to lay the wood to Kansas City (6-9, 5-3 home) with extreme prejudice. Anti-vegetable crusader Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, and Kaylee Hartung have the call.
That’s all for today, folks! Merry Christmas and God bless!