Position: Running Back
Years: 1966-1968
Place of Birth: Detroit, MI
Date of Birth: Oct 17, 1947
Place of Death: Madison, NJ
Date of Death: Nov 10, 2018
Jersey Number: 40
Height: 6-1
Weight: 205
High School: Detroit, MI (Northwestern HS)
The youngest of five children, Ron Johnson grew up in Detroit before becoming a star football player at Michigan from 1966 to 1968. Teammates voted him their Most Valuable Player twice, and they voted him captain in 1968, making him the first African-American in the history of the Michigan program to hold the title.
That year he also was voted Most Valuable Player in the Big Ten, was named All-America at halfback by the Football Writers Association of America and finished sixth in the Heisman Trophy balloting. In 10 games in 1968, he scored 19 touchdowns, rushed for 1,391 yards, caught passes for 166 yards, and returned nine kickoffs for 150 yards. His 19 rushing touchdowns are still a single-season school record at Michigan.
He received the Big Ten Medal of Honor, voted the outstanding scholar -athlete in the school. Johnson was 10th in the nation in rushing in 1967 and sixth in 1968. Against Wisconsin in 1968, Johnson rushed for 347 yards, which stood as an NCAA record for three years and remains a Michigan record. His college totals included 2,440 rushing yards and 27 touchdowns in three years for coach Bump Elliott (a 1989 Hall of Fame inductee as a player at Michigan). At Johnson's NFF Hall of Fame On-Campus Salute in 1992, Elliott said: "Ron Johnson was the best football player and the best captain I ever had" at Michigan.
Johnson was drafted in the first round by the Browns in 1969, playing one season in Cleveland before heading to New York to play for the Giants from 1970 to 1975. With the Giants, he twice earned All-Pro honors (1970 and 1972), and he became the first player in Giants history to gain at least 1,000 rushing yards in a season, twice hitting the milestone.
Having received his bachelor's and master's degrees in business from Michigan, Johnson entered the business world, starting as a financial analyst for Dean Witter. He later founded the Rackson Corporation in 1983, which grew to operate dozens of fast food franchises in New Jersey, Tennessee, and Michigan behind his leadership.
Johnson became the National Football Foundation's fifth chairman in 2006, having served on the NFF Board since 1995 and as vice chairman from 2000-05. His accession to the leadership role made him both the first African-American and the first member of the College Football Hall of Fame to serve as NFF Chairman, and he held the post for two years until health issues required him to step down.
Johnson played a key role in NFF's Play It Smart program, helping to establish the initiative, which raised more than $22 million to support the academic development of high school football players in underserved areas. His other many accomplishments included relocating the NFF corporate headquarters from Morristown, New Jersey, to Dallas, Texas; launching the NFF Hampshire Honor Society, which has gone on to recognize the accomplishments of nearly 10,000 student-athletes; establishing a robust corporate partnership program, which has raised millions of dollars to support the NFF efforts; and adding several new outposts to the NFF Chapter Network.
"Ron Johnson was everything you wanted in a player, teammate, and most importantly as a person," said NFF Chairman Archie Manning. "He was somebody who truly wanted to make the world a better place, and he did. His contributions to the NFF are countless, and I had the great honor of succeeding him as chairman."
"I had the privilege of working side-by-side with Ron in leading the NFF during his tenure as NFF Chairman," said NFF President & CEO Steve Hatchell. "People may have known him for his prowess on the football field, but he took that same commitment to excellence to the business world, and his success in the corporate world, coupled with his passion for college football, produced a powerful combination for the NFF. His contributions helped chart the trajectory for our organization that continues to this day, and we are extremely grateful."
