Jamal Adams was pretty smeared. The experienced safety of the Seattle Seahawks had just let Jakob Johnson break through, the agile German in the service of the New England Patriots.
The 25-year-old fullback escaped in the end zone, caught the pass of his star quarterback Cam Newton completely free and scored the first NFL touchdown of his youngsters Career in the strongest football league in the world.
Six years after Markus Kuhn at the New York Giants 2014 for the first time as a German player Had scored a touchdown in the NFL, Johnson carried the ball into the end zone. (Here for the 2020/21 NFL schedule)
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Johnson dutifully noted afterwards that he would have preferred a win – the Pats lost 30:35. Still, personal achievement is the temporary culmination of an NFL career as unusual as it is improbable.
From the state horticultural show to the NFL
Born in Swabia, 1.91 meters tall, weighs 116 kg and has since been active at college in Tennessee, he unexpectedly made the jump to the 53 roster for the then quarterback Tom Brady last year.
In 2018 he was still active for the Stuttgart Scorpions in the GFL, in summer he was a waiter at the state garden show – which he did in SPORT1-Interview a year ago classified it as quite helpful for his further career path: “At college everything is carried after you, you practically live in a bubble. Waiting, washing up, throwing drunk people out of the beer tent, that gives you something completely different again Mindset. You go into training with a completely different motivation. “
Head coach Bill Belichick, whose Patriots Johnson landed solely because of a sponsorship program for international players, initially placed little value on the German’s presence on his team.
“Without the Pathway Program we would never have signed him. I can’t say that we were thrilled to have signed him at the beginning,” Belichick admitted openly a year ago.
But then the son of a German and an American convinced with his NFL debut and the win against the New York Jets on matchday 3, drew attention in four games with a trapped pass for five yards and with important blocks – before a shoulder injury temporarily stopped him.
Nevertheless, he had earned Belichick’s benevolence over the long term: “You really have to say that he puts all his energy into this job and into our team. He has earned everyone’s respect,” praised the otherwise taciturn coach.
Johnson as a counterpart to Cam Newton
Johnson almost confirmed this praise against the Seahawks: In addition to his catch to 23:28 in the third quarter, Johnson almost stood out again with a highlight when he blocked the way for Newton on the way to another touchdown three seconds before the end sought.
But this time the Seahawks and Johnson’s opponents had done their homework and stifled the offensive speech. “We announced the move and came up short,” analyzed number 47 of the Pats afterwards.
Either way: Johnson has established himself with the outstanding team of the past decade faster than many experts thought possible – this is also revealed by the fact that Star-QB Newton is already using him as a target player for a touchdown.
According to Johnson, this did not make him nervous: “I am self-confident, I have trained in situations like this,” he said after the game.
Kuhn, Nzeocha and VfB Stuttgart congratulate
Johnson tried hard not to create too much euphoria – he left that to others. For example, pioneer Kuhn, who was one of the first to congratulate his successor. “Congratulations !!! Welcome to the club,” wrote the former defensive tackle on Twitter.
Linebacker Mark Nzeocha from the San Francisco 49ers was also happy about the “touchdown for Germany” – while Fritzle, the mascot of Bundesliga promoted VfB Stuttgart, threw confetti into the air in a social media post.
Conversely, Johnson is also excited about VfB. “I am very relieved that VfB is first class again,” he stated at a media conference before the start of the season: “The sky is the limit.”
A forecast that does not only apply to VfB …
