Johnson Taking Up the Slack in His Attitude

Those who wrote off Eddie Johnson as a slacker should see him now.

Working in the solitude of an empty football stadium at Orange Coast College, the Pirates’ punter booms kick after kick from one end of the field to the other.

The thud of each punt echoes through the stands as Johnson hones his craft an hour before practice each day, searching for the elusive perfect punt and displaying the sort of work ethic many thought he didn’t have.

Former coaches, teachers and teammates said he was destined to fail. An established pattern of truancy and all-night partying during his years at Newport Harbor High and last year at Orange Coast did little to prove them wrong.

But there he is in the middle of a vacant stadium, prodded by no one but himself, working up a sweat as he works toward success.

His immediate goal is helping the Pirates win the Strawberry Bowl, in which they face Cerritos tonight at 7 at Cerritos College.

But long-range plans call for much more than kicking footballs inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.

“A lot of people thought, ‘Oh, here’s another guy who has all this talent, but he’s throwing it away,’ and they were right. I realized that I needed to take life more seriously,” Johnson said.

And so the 19-year-old from Newport Beach quit his slacker ways. He moved out of his parents’ home. He started working. He removed himself from the all-night party scene. He began to understand the responsibilities that accompany the transition from teen to young adult.

“I started to work and I saw what real life was all about,” Johnson said. “I looked around and thought if I kept living the way I was living, life was going to pass me by.”

Johnson’s talent was never in question. As a senior at Newport Harbor in 1998, he averaged 42.2 yards per punt, including a 71-yarder, and put seven punts inside the 20. He was an all-county selection by The Times and had college coaches interested.

But Johnson had an aversion to classrooms and an inclination toward more “adult” pursuits, such as drinking alcohol.

During his junior year, Johnson showed up drunk for the Newport Harbor Winter Formal at Knott’s Berry Farm. On the bus ride to the school function, he said he drank “a big bottle” of Jack Daniel’s. He remembers stumbling into the event and staggering around the dance floor before needing some fresh air.

A security guard later found him passed out on a bench and he was suspended from school for the next semester. He returned and played at Newport Harbor his senior year, but his reputation had been tarnished.

Division I coaches lost interest, but Orange Coast Coach Mike Taylor made calls to Newport Harbor.

“They wanted to wash their hands of him,” Taylor said. “They told me he would drop out of school and end up surfing his whole life.”

But Taylor saw something that made him want to take the chance.

“He was a flake, no doubt about it” Taylor said. “But you could see it was just his youth. He had potential to become a good adult.”

Not much changed his first year at Orange Coast. Johnson skipped so much school his first semester that he earned only four out of 12 credit hours. He acknowledges staying out until 6 a.m. on nights before day games.

“I thought I was invincible,” Johnson said. “I was getting all these letters from colleges; I thought I had it made. I said to myself, ‘I’ll go to class, I’ll get better grades.’ I thought it would be easy, but nothing changed.”

After that four-credit first semester ended last year, Johnson knew his football eligibility was in jeopardy. Community college athletes must pass 12 units a semester.

Newly determined, Johnson took extra classes in the spring and attended summer school, bringing his total to 24 units before this season began.

He also began intense workouts with Pirate kicking coach Paul Briggs, the 81-year-old former Bakersfield High coach who guided the Drillers to 13 CIF Central Division championships.

Though Briggs never directly worked with Johnson on his off-field behavior, the two developed a bond. Johnson said the legendary coach taught much more than how to punt.

“He’s been instrumental in pointing me which way to go,” Johnson said. ‘A lot of the guys say, ‘Oh, he’s just old,’ but I look at that as a plus. He’s got wisdom and experience.”

Johnson’s punting average, 39.8 yards, is about a yard better than last year, but the difference is more than that. Last year it was one big booming punt and three shanks, trying to kick the daylights out of the ball every time.

This year he’s been more consistent and has learned the art of short-range pooch-punting so the ball doesn’t go in the end zone.

He booted a 73-yard punt this year, but more impressive were the seven he put inside the 15-yard line--five inside the five.

“But the best part about him,” Briggs said, “is that he’s such a good human being. He doesn’t have the Goodyear-sized head some kids get and he’s real easy to coach.”

Johnson, selected All-Mission Conference and honorable mention All-American, is a weapon most community college teams do not have. His punts soar high in the air, hanging upward of 4.2 seconds--an eternity to the return man waiting for the ball.

“It’s huge having him,” Taylor said. “He always keeps you ahead in the field-position battle. Those are the hidden yards that won’t show up in the stats.”

Johnson, 6 feet 4 and 250 pounds, is also the team’s backup quarterback. He’s completed four of seven passes for 58 yards and two touchdowns and has the size and athleticism to play the position, but his heart is in his leg.

He loves the science of punting, the feeling of a good kick leaving his foot and the art of taking a fall trying to draw a roughing-the-kicker penalty.

He also likes that he doesn’t have to go through the heavy workouts and conditioning drills. He doesn’t have to get dirty.

“I love the fact that I’m a punter,” he said. “I used to look around trying to find the easy way through life and I’m starting to realize that being a punter is the easiest road of anyone.”

Johnson has a fantasy he calls “the perfect punt.” He takes the ball in his own end zone and makes the ultimate connection with leg fully extended. The ball gets up into a tail wind and carries over the returner’s head, bounces, rolls and comes to rest just inside the opposite one-yard line.

“It’s more of a dream,” Johnson said. “If I ever do it, then I’ll quit right there, but until then, I’m going to keep working for that goal.”

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Community College Football

* What: Strawberry Bowl

* When: 7 tonight.

* Where: Cerritos College, 1110 E. Alondra Blvd., Norwalk

* Matchup: Orange Coast College (6-4), Mission Conference Central Division co-champion, vs. Cerritos (7-3), tied for third in Mission Conference Northern Division.

* Notes: Orange Coast started the season 0-3, then won a share of the Central Division title to earn a bowl bid. Cerritos had a 5-0 start but fizzled in the tough Northern Division. . . . Both teams played the same 10 opponents during the regular season, but did not face each other. . . . Both defeated Palomar, Saddleback, Golden West and Santa Ana. The only team both lost to was El Camino. Orange Coast dropped a 30-0 decision to the Warriors in Week 3; Cerritos lost to El Camino, 24-21, in Week 6. . . . Key players for Cerritos are defensive end Demetrin Veal, a 6-foot-3, 285-pound sophomore who was named Northern Division defensive player of the year, and Doug Baughman, a sophomore quarterback who passed for 2,007 yards and 17 touchdowns. . . . For the Pirates, 6-3, 245-pound tight end Ben Fredrickson was a unanimous all-conference selection. Linebackers Dustin Davis, Martin Janzon and Justin Blackard lead a tough OCC defense.

* Tickets: $7 general admission, $3 for seniors and children under 12. No student discount.