DEMETRIOUS JOHNSON

Football

Position: Safety
Born: July 21, 1961; St. Louis, Missouri
Played For: Missouri University (1980-1982), Detroit Lions (1983-1986), Miami Dolphins (1987)

By Ron Jacober

Except for the super elite hall of fame athletes, fame can be short lived for most  in professional sports. Even all-star athletes find that as the calendar pages turn, sports fans have short memories. Oh, they may remember a name, but the numbers, titles, wins, points, all-star games, championships, awards and trophies fade away. They go into a box someplace — or, into a fan’s distant memory.

Fame in sports, like life, doesn’t last all that long. The true measure of the value of an athlete as a person is what happens away from the adoring fans, away from the stadiums and playing fields.  It’s to use their fame and platform to help those who need help the most.

Meet the late Demetrious Johnson. He grew up in poverty, one of eight children raised by a single parent in the Darst Webbe Housing project in St. Louis. DJ was the youngest, but developed into an outstanding athlete. He played football at McKinley High School and earned a full athletic scholarship to the University of Missouri. It was the only way he could have gone to college.

At 5-foot-11 and 190 pounds, he was an outstanding defensive back for the Tigers. A Big Eight conference all-star, he didn’t score touchdowns, he prevented them. He could put a big hurt on opposing wide receivers. Demetrious was also a good student. He graduated with a degree in Education.

Despite his relatively small size, DJ was a fifth-round pick of the NFL’s Detroit Lions in the 1983 draft. The man could play football. For five seasons he patrolled the secondary looking for wide receivers and running backs to hit. He ended his pro career with the Miami  Dolphins.

When his playing career was over, he started exploring ways to give back to St. Louis. With a deep desire to encourage and support underprivileged children to reach their potential, he founded the Demetrious Johnson Charitable Foundation. It is dedicated to identifying and helping better the lives of inner-city youth by providing mentoring, financial, vocational and scholastic assistance programs and to help underprivileged, poor and distressed families.

The foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars over the years to support the mission. The organization is usually most visible around the holidays when it hosts numerous food and toy drive giveaways. DJ would take busloads of kids to Missouri football games and Cardinal baseball games.

Sadly, Demetrious died in December of 2022 at age 61 from a rare aortic dissection. However, the Foundation continues to operate and his legacy as a man who lived to help the underprivileged youth will live on for a long time.