Butch Johnson (American football)
Encyclopedia
Michael "Butch" McColly Johnson (born May 28, 1954 in Los Angeles, California
) is a former professional American football
player who played wide receiver
in the National Football League
for the Dallas Cowboys
(1976
-1983
) and Denver Broncos
(1984
-1985
). He played college football
at the University of California, Riverside
and was drafted
in the third round (87th overall) of the 1976 NFL Draft
. In Super Bowl XII
, Johnson caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Roger Staubach
. In Super Bowl XIII
he scored another touchdown becoming only the second player to score touchdowns in back-to-back Super Bowls.
and track
. In 1972 he finished second-place in the pole vault
event at the All-City meet.
He was a non-scolarship athlete at Division II University California Riverside in football
and track
. He lead the nation in receiving in 1975 with 67 catches for 1,027 yards, in just eight games, while earning All-America honors. In 1974 he was second team for the UPI Little All Coast Football team. The University dropped the football
program the year after he graduated.
In 1986 he was inducted into the University California Riverside Athletics Hall of Fame.
in the 3rd round of the 1976 NFL Draft
.
For a long time he was considered one of the best-backup wide receiver
s in the NFL, but during his 8 seasons with the Cowboys he could never win a starter position. As the third receiver during that time, he was primarily known for his acrobatic and clutch receptions. He also became the second leading punt returner in franchise History.
He helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XII
with a highlight real 45 yard touchdown
reception from Roger Staubach
, which is considered to be a "Super Bowl
Classic". One year later he had another touchdown
reception in Super Bowl XIII
which the Cowboys lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers
, making him the second player in NFL history to score touchdown
s in back-to-back Super Bowl
s.
Johnson's touchdown celebration was known as the "California Quake", where he would simulate pulling guns out of holsters and proceed to shoot them and shake. It became one of the most famous individual celebrations in league history, and one of the reasons the NFL banned rehearsed end-zone touchdown celebrations.
He proved himself in 1981
when he started the first six games while Tony Hill
was injured, he had 25 catches, 552 yards and 5 touchdown
s.
In 1983
he had his best year with 41 catches and 561 yards, but he had grown tired of his third receiver status and requested a trade. The Cowboys granted his wishes and traded him to the Houston Oilers in exchange for wide receiver
Mike Renfro
, plus the right to swap second-round picks in the 1984 NFL Draft
and the Oilers' fifth-rounder in the 1985 NFL Draft
. A year later, the Cowboys used that fifth round pick to select Herschel Walker
.
for a third round draft choice in the 1985 NFL Draft
.
he had career highs with 42 catches, 587 yards and 6 touchdown
s. The next year an injury slowed his performance and eventually forced him to retired at the end of the 1985 season
.
Johnson played in the NFL for 10 seasons, catching 193 passes for 3,091 yards and 28 touchdown
s. He appeared in 5 NFC Championship Game
s and 2 Super Bowl
s.
of Team Mannatech, a promotional outfit associated Mannatech
, Inc.
In the Dallas Morning News newspaper, after Super Bowl XII
, Sunday evening, January 15, 1978. On Monday, January 16, 1978, the front page photo is titled "Outfielder Butch", referring to Butch Johnson's diving touchdown catch, as he dove over the Denver Broncos
end zone, diagonally, to successfully make the touchdown reception.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
) is a former professional American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player who played wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
for the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
(1976
1976 NFL season
The 1976 NFL season was the 57th regular season of the National Football League. The league expanded to 28 teams with the addition of the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers...
-1983
1983 NFL season
The 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII when the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins.-Major rule changes:...
) and Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
(1984
1984 NFL season
The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
-1985
1985 NFL season
The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots.-Major rule changes:...
). He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at the University of California, Riverside
University of California, Riverside
The University of California, Riverside, commonly known as UCR or UC Riverside, is a public research university and one of the ten general campuses of the University of California system. UCR is consistently ranked as one of the most ethnically and economically diverse universities in the United...
and was drafted
NFL Draft
The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...
in the third round (87th overall) of the 1976 NFL Draft
1976 NFL Draft
The 1976 National Football League Draft was an annual player selection meeting held on April 8–April 9, 1976. It lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks making the first two selections. The expansion teams were also given a pair of extra picks at the end of...
. In Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1977 regular season...
, Johnson caught a 45-yard touchdown pass from Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...
. In Super Bowl XIII
Super Bowl XIII
Super Bowl XIII was an American football game played on January 21, 1979 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1978 regular season...
he scored another touchdown becoming only the second player to score touchdowns in back-to-back Super Bowls.
Early years
Johnson attended Dorsey High School where he practiced footballAmerican football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
. In 1972 he finished second-place in the pole vault
Pole vault
Pole vaulting is a track and field event in which a person uses a long, flexible pole as an aid to leap over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the ancient Greeks, as well as the Cretans and Celts...
event at the All-City meet.
He was a non-scolarship athlete at Division II University California Riverside in football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and track
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...
. He lead the nation in receiving in 1975 with 67 catches for 1,027 yards, in just eight games, while earning All-America honors. In 1974 he was second team for the UPI Little All Coast Football team. The University dropped the football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
program the year after he graduated.
In 1986 he was inducted into the University California Riverside Athletics Hall of Fame.
Dallas Cowboys
He was selected by the Dallas CowboysDallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
in the 3rd round of the 1976 NFL Draft
1976 NFL Draft
The 1976 National Football League Draft was an annual player selection meeting held on April 8–April 9, 1976. It lasted 17 rounds, with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks making the first two selections. The expansion teams were also given a pair of extra picks at the end of...
.
For a long time he was considered one of the best-backup wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
s in the NFL, but during his 8 seasons with the Cowboys he could never win a starter position. As the third receiver during that time, he was primarily known for his acrobatic and clutch receptions. He also became the second leading punt returner in franchise History.
He helped the Cowboys win Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1977 regular season...
with a highlight real 45 yard touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
reception from Roger Staubach
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach is a businessman, Heisman Trophy winner and legendary Hall of Fame former quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1969 until 1979. Staubach was instrumental in developing the Cowboys into becoming one of the best teams of the 1970s and led the team to nine of the Cowboys'...
, which is considered to be a "Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
Classic". One year later he had another touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
reception in Super Bowl XIII
Super Bowl XIII
Super Bowl XIII was an American football game played on January 21, 1979 at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion following the 1978 regular season...
which the Cowboys lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...
, making him the second player in NFL history to score touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s in back-to-back Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s.
Johnson's touchdown celebration was known as the "California Quake", where he would simulate pulling guns out of holsters and proceed to shoot them and shake. It became one of the most famous individual celebrations in league history, and one of the reasons the NFL banned rehearsed end-zone touchdown celebrations.
He proved himself in 1981
1981 NFL season
The 1981 NFL season was the 62nd regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVI when the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Cincinnati Bengals.-Major rule changes:...
when he started the first six games while Tony Hill
Tony Hill (American football)
Leroy Anthony Hill, Jr. is a former professional American football wide receiver who played ten seasons in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys from 1977 to 1986...
was injured, he had 25 catches, 552 yards and 5 touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s.
In 1983
1983 NFL season
The 1983 NFL season was the 64th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XVIII when the Los Angeles Raiders defeated the Washington Redskins.-Major rule changes:...
he had his best year with 41 catches and 561 yards, but he had grown tired of his third receiver status and requested a trade. The Cowboys granted his wishes and traded him to the Houston Oilers in exchange for wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
Mike Renfro
Mike Renfro
Michael Ray Renfro is a former American professional football player.- NFL draft :Renfro was selected by the Houston Oilers in the fourth round of the 1978 NFL Draft. A 6'0", 186-lb...
, plus the right to swap second-round picks in the 1984 NFL Draft
1984 NFL Draft
The 1984 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held May 1-2, 1984. No teams elected to claim any players in the regular supplemental draft that...
and the Oilers' fifth-rounder in the 1985 NFL Draft
1985 NFL Draft
The 1985 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985...
. A year later, the Cowboys used that fifth round pick to select Herschel Walker
Herschel Walker
Herschel Junior Walker is an American mixed martial artist and a former American football player. He played college football for the University of Georgia Bulldogs and earned the 1982 Heisman Trophy. He began his professional career with the New Jersey Generals of the United States Football League...
.
Houston Oilers
Johnson's outrageous personality and flamboyant on-field antics wore thin with the Oilers very quickly, who after just 3 preseason games, traded him to the Denver BroncosDenver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
for a third round draft choice in the 1985 NFL Draft
1985 NFL Draft
The 1985 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 30 and May 1, 1985...
.
Denver Broncos
In 19841984 NFL season
The 1984 NFL season was the 65th regular season of the National Football League. The Colts relocated from Baltimore, Maryland to Indianapolis, Indiana....
he had career highs with 42 catches, 587 yards and 6 touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s. The next year an injury slowed his performance and eventually forced him to retired at the end of the 1985 season
1985 NFL season
The 1985 NFL season was the 66th regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XX when the Chicago Bears defeated the New England Patriots.-Major rule changes:...
.
Johnson played in the NFL for 10 seasons, catching 193 passes for 3,091 yards and 28 touchdown
Touchdown
A touchdown is a means of scoring in American and Canadian football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone.-Description:...
s. He appeared in 5 NFC Championship Game
NFC Championship Game
The National Football Conference Championship Game is one of the two semi-final playoff matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the...
s and 2 Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...
s.
Personal life
Johnson is currently the coachCoach (sport)
In sports, a coach is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.-Staff:...
of Team Mannatech, a promotional outfit associated Mannatech
Mannatech
Mannatech, Incorporated, is a multinational multi-level marketing firm engaged in research, development, and distribution of "glyconutrients," the company's name for blends of plant-sourced saccharides . Mannatech was founded in November 1993 by Samuel L...
, Inc.
In the Dallas Morning News newspaper, after Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII
Super Bowl XII was an American football game played on January 15, 1978 at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana to decide the National Football League champion following the 1977 regular season...
, Sunday evening, January 15, 1978. On Monday, January 16, 1978, the front page photo is titled "Outfielder Butch", referring to Butch Johnson's diving touchdown catch, as he dove over the Denver Broncos
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently members of the West Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
end zone, diagonally, to successfully make the touchdown reception.