Chiefs’ Johnson fighting history

By Clayton Wendler  |   Friday, March 16, 2007  |  Comments( 4 )

Kansas City Chiefs
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Chiefs running back Larry Johnson has never been much for pacifism -- at least, where football is concerned. We're certainly not going to get into his political leanings in this space.

He's always been a fighter. His predecessor, Priest Holmes, was quicksilver in comparison -- a smooth, crafty player whose talents on the field reflected his off-field love for chess.

But not Johnson. If Holmes was the NFL's version of an F-15 fighter plane, No. 27 is a tank -- grinding over opponents with relentless force. Johnson said it best: "I don't get hit, I give hits."

Of course, even tanks are not indestructible. By now you have surely heard of Johnson's connection with Jamal Anderson, Eddie George and James Wilder. All carried the ball 400 times or more in one season. All suffered injury afterward.

So after Johnson set an NFL record with 416 carries last season, surely this tank needs some new treads. There's a veritable minefield lying ahead, threatening to derail his career.

Johnson could sit back, enjoy the offseason and rest. He could try and squeeze some more money out of Kansas City General Manager Carl Peterson (he still hasn't signed a new contract). He could glam it up as part of Jay-Z's posse. He could mail bags of diapers to Dick Vermeil.

You can forget all of that. Johnson doesn't want to go down like Anderson, George and Wilder. He's attacking his future like he attacks linebackers on the field -- head on.

The latest Sports Illustrated reported that Johnson has hired a personal trainer named Joe Carini, a former competitive power lifter who worked with ex-Giants running back Tiki Barber starting in 2004.

Perhaps it is a coincidence that while training with Carini, Barber produced the three best seasons of his career -- 1,518 yards in 2004, 1,860 yards in 2005 and 1,662 yards last year. Perhaps it's also mere coincidence that Carini helped Barber, a 30-year-old at the onset of the training, play in all 48 regular-season games over the final three-year stretch of his career.

But if all of that happened by chance, then it's entirely possible that what happened to Anderson, George and Wilder was also just bad fortune. There are other running backs who never came close to 400 carries in a season and broke down.

Give Johnson some credit. While Chiefs defensive end Jared Allen has been whining about his contract status and the entire league is handing out obscene money to marginal players in a ridiculous free-agent market, Johnson is trying to get better.

Even after two 1,700-yard seasons, played under a rookie contract that pays him peanuts, and knowing he's worth much, much more.

Travis Henry signed a five-year, $22.5 million contract with the Broncos this offseason. He's scored eight touchdowns over the last three years. Meanwhile, Johnson's current rookie deal is good for barely $12 million. He's scored 51 touchdowns in the last three years.

Johnson has beaten the notion that a Penn State running back couldn't succeed in the NFL. He's beaten out Priest Holmes as the best running back on an NFL roster. He's beaten so many linebackers into a bloody pulp over the last two seasons that people now question when he'll start to feel the effects.

Beating history is his new challenge. If New Jersey's Strongest Man of the 1980s (Carini) can turn Johnson into the NFL's Strongest Man of the New Millennium, it might just be possible.

Start the training montage.

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