Northside High School senior Caleb Johnson hopes one day to pursue a degree in biomedical engineering or something along those lines. He also would like to get a secondary degree in business management. An only child, Johnson talks about his mother with respect and admiration and has a reserved demeanor.
Don’t let the calm, cool and collected side of Johnson fool you. When he steps onto a football field as one of the top defenders in the Columbus Valley area, Johnson’s alter ego takes over.
“Oh, yeah,” he said. “I flip a switch. I really like hitting people.”
Standing 6’4” and weighing 250 lbs., Johnson is a force to be reckoned with as a starting linebacker for the Patriots. He has been playing football just about as far back as he can remember, because he was always “bigger than the other kids,” Johnson has seen a lot of playing time on defense.
Johnson came to Northside primarily because of the school’s biomedical engineering magnet program. He played just about every sport he could at Veterans Memorial Middle School and knew he wanted to continue to play football in high school. He found his chance with the Patriots, but it didn’t come easy.
As a freshman Johnson started off much like every other underclassman. Eventually, the linebacker set a goal to be a starter for his sophomore season. A lot of hard work and effort went into making that a reality, but when the 2015 season rolled around, Johnson had earned a starting position.
“I will say that particular year we had a huge senior class,” said Northside Head Football Coach, Morgan Ingram. “For him to beat those other guys out was a big deal.”
Johnson says he worked hard at attaining the starting position because nothing was handed to him. It is a philosophy he still holds to as a member of the Patriots team. Hard work is the norm, not the exception.
“I did what I had to do,” he said. “Hard work. There was a spot open but I had to work hard to earn it.”
Chalking up the sophomore season to an experience builder, Johnson came into the 2016 with the same work ethic and mindset. His competitive spirit ramped up, though, and a funny thing happened. Johnson exploded onto the scene with big results. He led the team in tackles, almost twice as many as the year before, and was an interception leader.
“It was my breakout year,” he said. “I had about 125 tackles on the season and was named All-Region.”
Because of his stellar performance, Johnson started gaining attention from colleges who were impressed with the outside linebacker’s size and speed. The guy who was always bigger than everyone else is also faster than many of his peers, too. His best time in the 40 Yard Dash is 4.7 seconds, which is one of the reasons during the spring the two-sport athlete can be found playing right field for the Patriots baseball team.
When the scouts started calling and the offers started coming in, no one was more amazed than Johnson.
“I was surprised,” he said. “I was like other kids who wanted to grow up and be a professional football player. Play in college and go on to the NFL but it was surprising when I started getting calls.”
His coach acknowledges it was pretty quiet on the recruiting front until February and then the interest in Johnson started heating up. Now, he is considered a three-star recruit with several offers from key Division I football programs. Johnson’s life has become a little more complicated because of the attention.
“It’s overwhelming,” he said.
At this point Johnson has narrowed down his choices, but is playing his cards pretty close to the vest. While other high school athletes might be dazzled by the hype and attention, Johnson is still pretty much the same person he has always been off the field; calm, cool and collected.
His list of “possibles” is more about what the schools have to offer him in the way of academics. He says his mother has always stressed the value of education. Academics will factor big in his decision. Johnson also says he wants to choose a future college based on not just the coaches but the how the team relates to one another. At Northside, the senior values the closeness of his teammates and feels the connection athletes have with each other builds the strength of the team as a whole.
At the time of his interview, Johnson was planning on delaying his decision until the end of football season. He hopes his skills on the field continue to project upwardly and his focus is on being a team leader, working hard, and being a contributor to his team’s goal of a winning season.
He has an off-the-field plan for his future because Johnson knows football is a means to an end.
“I have heard too many stories about career-ending injuries. I know football will end one day and I want a back-up plan. Football is my gateway to other things,” Johnson said.
Johnson comes from a long line of talented athletes. He can list family members who attended college on athletic scholarships or were serious athletes. One he is particularly proud of is his grandfather. Johnson says his grandfather was a boxer who was a heavyweight fighter back in the day.
Columbus Valley/October 2017
Caleb Johnson
Northside High School
Columbus, GA
By Beth Welch
Photos by George McDuffie
Patriot Defender Has On Field Personality
