BATON ROUGE, La — First an East Feliciana Tiger, next a Southern University Jaguar, and now a Washington Commander defensive back, Danny Johnson is giving back to the community he grew up in.
The Jackson, La. native grew up a three-sport athlete, playing football, basketball and baseball. Johnson’s abilities on the gridiron turned into a career that’s given him the ability to help kids who are just like him.
“We didn’t have these opportunities when I was coming up, and now just the opportunity that these kids have to see them just come out and be excited and get the knowledge from these older guys. I wish I had that when I was young,” Johnson said.
Yet the lessons he wants them to take away go beyond the football field. He brought former teammates from all levels, including Washington Commanders safety Deshazor Everett to talk about the importance of success in life.
“We can’t change what’s going on in the world, but we could change the way these kids think and the future that they believe that they can have,” Everett said.
While Johnson might represent the past of excellence at East Feliciana High School, the future has already arrived. The top tight end and wide receiver prospect in the class of 2024, Trey’Dez Green, is committed to LSU and is perhaps the best in the state at both basketball and football.
Yet in this case, the past and the present are related.
“That’s my little cousin. To see Trey doing what he’s doing, especially in both sports. I wish I could do that,” Johnson said. “We talked about it a long time ago, and the biggest thing I told him was to make sure to keep his grades right. We didn’t really talk about sports. And the reason why I say that is because I know we can’t play these sports for long.”
