Duke Johnson has been Incredible on field, works hard not to be Hulk off of it
BEREA — Duke Johnson grabs the brown face mask with both hands and slams the orange helmet to the green turf, hard enough for it to recoil chest-high.
Later in the same afternoon, he catches a pass in the flat, throws a linebacker to the side, makes a nifty move to get to the sideline, lowers his shoulder into another linebacker, is stood up, resets and fights forward until finally taken down by four defenders weighing 1,061 pounds. All that for a 5-yard gain.
Two vignettes from two weeks ago in Detroit begin to tell the story of Duke Johnson the person and the running back. He’s competitive, emotional, a fighter and a playmaker.
“I try not to get like that,” he said of the helmet spike after DeShone Kizer’s failed quarterback sneak that drew an unsportsmanlike penalty and $12,154 fine. “I try not to show emotion and try not to explode in that kind of manner. But I know sometimes it happens. And I prefer it happen on the field than happen off the field.”
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The conversation last week between Johnson and The Chronicle-Telegram took place at his locker. A small, stuffed The Incredible Hulk doll is pinned behind his nameplate, and a pair of Hulk gloves hangs from it.
As a rookie, Johnson said he related to the Hulk because he can’t be stopped regardless of who’s in front of him. More than two years later he amended the story.
“The Hulk is more for anger management,” he said. “It’s not really an issue, but something I deal with. Just try to keep calm and basically the Hulk — don’t get to that point, just try to keep your cool through it all.”
Johnson (5-foot-9, 210 pounds) is one of the smaller guys on the Browns and noticeably soft-spoken in a locker room of screamers. He’s dealt with rage since he was a kid.
“For whatever reason, whatever ticked me off, whatever bothered me, I just learned now that I can’t allow it to,” he said. “Because I have a lot more to lose than I did when I was a kid.”
His dad, Randy Johnson Sr., died of ALS when Johnson was 14. A few years later he was suspended for the first three games of his senior season at Miami Northland High School after leaving the bench for a fight in the state title game the previous year. He said he’d also fight in practice.
“But I don’t really count practice,” said Johnson, whose given name is Randy.
Johnson’s mom wanted him to see someone about the anger before he went to the University of Miami but he preferred to deal with it on his own. He came up with the Hulk comparison.
“Just kinda watching the Hulk in movies and stuff and just laughing that that’s kind of how I get,” he said.
Johnson’s focus is keeping the anger in check off the field and said he’s stayed out of trouble.
“That’s my biggest thing, I don’t really care too much about (showing anger) on the field,” he said.
LITTLE GUY, BIG IMPACT
Johnson is certainly passionate about his performance and team. The catch-and-run-and-fight in the fourth quarter against the Lions was further proof.
“That sh– hurt, man,” he said. “Just football. Eventually it’s going to hurt. I just try to make plays whenever it is, no matter what time, score, make plays.”
He’s excelled this year, leading the team with 654 yards from scrimmage and sharing the lead with four touchdowns. He’s the top receiver with 46 catches for 414 yards, with two touchdowns, and has added 46 rushes for 240 yards, a 5.2 average and two scores.
“Duke is pound for pound one of the best players I have been around,” coach Hue Jackson said. “He is tough. I get disappointed because he does not get as much notoriety as some of the other guys that play the position because of our record, but he is playing extremely well for us.”
Frustrated fans hear comments like that and criticize Jackson for not using Johnson more. In the loss to the Jaguars on Sunday, Johnson caught four passes for 56 yards, including a 27-yard touchdown, and ran twice for 10 yards. He played 27 of the 55 offensive snaps. Profootballfocus.com grades him with a 42.6 percent success rate on rushes, best in the NFL. He gets a first down or touchdown 31.9 percent of the time, which ranks third.
Johnson’s dark side stays hidden here. He said he’s never argued with the coaches about playing time or touches.
“Hell no,” he said. “In that aspect I’m very good at keeping my calm. For me, that’s night and day. I don’t overstep my boundaries, I don’t overstep my job description, I just try to go out there and just do what they ask.”
Production isn’t the problem, so lack of size is what keeps Johnson from becoming a workhorse. Although he hasn’t missed a game in three seasons since being a third-round pick, the change-of-pace label sticks.
“That’s kind of the stigma that’s on us smaller backs, I would say, that we won’t hold up, we can’t hold up,” he said. “But then I watch guys like Darren Sproles do it for years. And do it at a high level for years. It’s the NFL, you’re going to have guys that get banged up, that miss games. It’s just part of the game. But I take pride if I’m able to walk and go out and play, I’m going to try everything I can to play.”
Run game coordinator/running backs coach Kirby Wilson called the label “extremely unfair.”
“He does a lot of things really well that go unnoticed at times because of the way he is built and the way he runs,” Wilson said.
On an offense averaging a league-worst 15 points, Johnson has supplied a bulk of the highlights. Against the Colts, he took a short pitch, got away from a pair of linebackers, sprinted upfield and dived into the end zone for a 19-yard touchdown. Against the Jaguars, he had an effective stiff-arm and later the touchdown catch in which he made linebacker Telvin Smith look silly with a move toward the sideline then back down the seam.
“No matter how you get him the ball, if you pass it to him, you hand it to him, I’m sure if he played defense he’d be a good football player, too,” left guard Joel Bitonio said. “He’s just one of those guys you want on your team. And I love playing with Duke.”
TOUGH AS NAILS
The not-without-a-fight spirit has been on display all year. Yet defenses still are caught off-guard.
“Which I like, because it takes them a second, third time to realize it, and by then I’ve done did a good little damage,” Johnson said. “When it comes to breaking tackles and things like that, I probably get underestimated because of my size. A lot of people think I’m a lot smaller than I really am, probably because I wear long sleeves so you really can’t tell.”
The sleeves cover his biceps.
“I’m ripped,” he said.
Rookie tight end David Njoku was teammates with Johnson at Miami. They’re next to each other in the locker room.
“He’s imposing his will against defenses,” Njoku said. “He’s just being Duke. Duke’s being Duke. Did the same in Miami and he’s doing it in the NFL.”
Wilson has been with Johnson for two seasons. He’s come to expect maximum effort resulting in missed and broken tackles.
“He is extremely tough mentally and physically,” he said. “He is not going to let you tackle him that easy. He knows when the journey is over, but at the same time, he is going to fight for every inch. He knows that we need every inch, and he knows those are important yards.”
Since entering the league in 2015, Johnson is first among NFL running backs with 1,462 receiving yards and second with 180 catches. Does he take pride in that?
“Somewhat. Not really too much,” he said. “I take pride more in whenever I get the ball I have the mentality that is whether it’s 10 (touches), whether it’s five, whatever it is during the game, making the most of the opportunity.
“So regardless of how many times I get it, I take more pride in making something happen when there’s nothing there.”
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