If you caught this week’s Thursday Night Football matchup between the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Browns, then you probably noticed there was a stand-out star who definitely will have football fans knowing his name.
Making his first career NFL start, D'Ernest Johnson started in place of Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt and put the Browns ahead with his first career touchdown in the first quarter.
Though his story is absolutely remarkable and will make you fall in love with him.
Playing at the University of South Florida and putting up record numbers, Johnson went undrafted in 2018 and was invited out to New Orleans Saint training camp, where he went unsigned. Johnson then spent the rest of the year working on a fishing boat.
Johnson continued to try and make his football dreams come true and he reached out to various teams within the Alliance of American Football ahead of its inaugural season in 2019, hoping to land a tryout where he ended up being signed to the Orlando Apollos.
Following the fall of the AAF after that season, Johnson signed with the Browns in 2019 and made the team’s 53-man roster.
How incredible is that?! Within three years, Johnson went from fishing mahi-mahi to having his first-career NFL start where he put on an absolute show with 22 carries, 146 rushing yards, 22 receiving yards and of course his first career touchdown.
Johnson spoke with Erin Andrews following the game on the moment and had an incredible reaction to finding out LeBron James had shouted him out online following the game.
There’s truly no better fit for the underdog than to be a part of the Cleveland Browns squad, who are currently 4-3-0 and will take on their division rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers on Halloween for Week 8!
