First Person

Keyshawn Johnson

As told to Peter King

"People think I'm all about me. I'm not." Danny Turner

• ON WHETHER HE CAN RETURN TO PRO BOWL FORM WITH DALLAS Return? I never left. I'm always gonna catch 80 balls. The reason I didn't catch 80 last year [he had 45] is because the game was taken from me by a coach [Jon Gruden] who made football depressing.

• ON TAMPA BAY It's sad. Just sad. I have friends trapped on that team, suffering in silence, suffering inside, because they can't say anything about how bad it is there. They have to feed their families.

• ON FEELINGS OF REVENGE TOWARD THE BUCS AND GRUDEN The revenge for me was when they didn't make the playoffs last year. That said it all.

• ON WHY HE MESHES SO WELL WITH BILL PARCELLS He gets it. I get it. That's it. He tells me, 'This is what I want you to do for me.' And if I do that for him, he'll do things for me. It's a simple relationship. It's the way every football relationship should be. No nonsense.

• ON HIS VALUE AS A FOOTBALL PLAYER Do you know how valuable it is to have a player who can go in motion, double-down on the defensive end [be part of a double-team block], release from that and go take out the middle linebacker? That is a weapon in this game. That's what I do. Plus I catch 80 balls for 1,200 yards. That is value.

• ON THE QB HE WISHES HE COULD PLAY WITH BEFORE HE RETIRES Tom Brady. He has guts, courage. He's unselfish. Overcame a lot of obstacles. Came from nowhere. And all he does is win. Peyton Manning's good, but he gets too much credit. Look at the weapons he's got versus the weapons Brady's got. And come on ... win a playoff game when it counts. Win when it's time to deliver. Beating a defense like Kansas City's ... I mean, that doesn't count. Brady wins the huge games.

• ON THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD THING ABOUT KEYSHAWN JOHNSON That I'm all about me. I'm not. All I want to do is play well and help the team win.

• ON JERRY JONES Some owners just write checks. Jerry Jones writes checks to win.

• ON THE CORNERBACK WHO HAS THE BEST CHANCE OF NEUTRALIZING HIM ON SUNDAYS To be honest with you, nobody.

JOHNSON CAUGHT A TD PASS IN THE COWBOYS' LOSS TO THE GIANTS. DALLAS (2-2) PLAYS PITTSBURGH THIS SUNDAY

Issue date: October 18, 2004