Boise State's Ian Johnson: Plays on Green Field as Well as on Blue

Lace Banachek by Correspondent Written on February 22, 2009
70130_feature

The media recognize Boise State, but it is obvious they wish they did not have to. The announcers at the close of Sunday's combine stated that it appeared Johnson could play on a green field just as well as he does on the blue.

One would imagine all the fantastic runs Johnson had with Boise State were not all played at his blue turfed home. Ian is used to the BSU ridicule and he is man enough to venture on.

Having said that, Ian did venture on at the NFL combine held in Indianapolis on Feb. 22.

In fact, Ian Johnson had a phenomenal day at the combine, coming in the top ten in the 40 and the bench press. Ian finished second in the forty; 2 100ths of a second off the final choice for first, with a 4.46.

How they rounded out his two runs to 4.46 seems odd as Ian ran the first 40 at 4.38 (faster then all other competitors), and the last one at 4.44.

Still, one thing that Ian seemed to take away from his Boise State football education was a calm, peaceful, and mostly respectful attitude.

Johnson will be fine with second place considering all the major name first- and second-round draft potentials who did not come close to him in many of the categories.

Ian finished the bench with a fifth-place finish with 26 reps. As previously stated, name backs such as Beanie Wells and Knowshon Moreno did not pressure Ian today.

Johnson looked well in all the other categories, caught the ball and ran extremely well. Even at the combine, IJ did not get the media hurrah that one would expect due his exceptional talent.

Marshall Faulk was the WAC touchdown king from San Diego State University; that is until Ian Johnson broke his record with 58 TD’s (the last one at the Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego) was one of the premier announcers at the event.

Coming to think of it there was suppose to be a stopping of the Poinsettia Bowl when Ian broke Faulk’s record to present Johnson with the ball. It didn’t happen!

Really classy, Faulk and Poinsettia Bowl!  Oh well, that’s history and Faulk and LaDainian Tomlinson no longer hold all of the WAC records, thanks to a back from Boise State who runs faster, catches better, knits, and proposes better than any football star the WAC has ever known.

You will be missed at Boise State, Ian Johnson, but your fans await watching you on Sundays as your stock value in the coming April NFL draft just skyrocketed.

Vote Now! - Author Poll

How do you feel the combine helped Ian Johnson's chance to be drafted in the NFL's April draft

  • Ian will go in the 3rd or 4th round
  • Ian in the 5th or 6th round
  • Ian in the 7th round
  • After 7 if at all
  • No way! Ian Johnson will not be drafted
vote to see results
Results - Author Poll

How do you feel the combine helped Ian Johnson's chance to be drafted in the NFL's April draft

  • Ian will go in the 3rd or 4th round

    62.9%
  • Ian in the 5th or 6th round

    25.8%
  • Ian in the 7th round

    1.7%
  • After 7 if at all

    3.9%
  • No way! Ian Johnson will not be drafted

    5.6%
  • Total votes: 178
(3)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

23 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

894
reads

23
comments

written on February 22, 2009 Breaking News

The best Boise State newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.