'It completes me'

Brad Johnson validated by Super Bowl win

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- Well, it's official. Success hasn't changed Brad Johnson a bit.

On this, the biggest night of his football career and maybe his life, the first-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback stood off to one corner of the huge Hilton Torrey Pines ballroom, soaking up the unfolding scene that was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' team victory party.

While the music from a live band pulsed, and hundreds danced, ate and drank the night away, reveling in the franchise's finest moment in its 27-year history, Johnson quietly accepted the congratulations of friends, family members and teammates. No center stage for Johnson on this night of celebration. Quietly sipping a beer, and later a Coke, he posed for pictures, swapped hugs and wore the look of a tired but supremely contented man.

"The whole thing is kind of surreal," Johnson said, just three hours or so after leading Tampa Bay to a 48-21 pulverizing of Oakland in Super Bowl XXXVII at Qualcomm Stadium. "It's not really how I dreamed it. But I do think it's a feather in your cap. No matter what those guys say, they can't take it away from you. Never. Never.

"I think what I've done, it validates my whole career. It validates the numbers and my consistency up to now. It completes me."

"Those guys" is how Johnson euphemistically refers to us so-called football experts in the media, a group that has often either misjudged him, or marginalized his solid but unflashy style of play.

At 34, after 11 seasons in the NFL, Johnson will still be referred to as less than dynamic from a stylistic standpoint. Just be sure and remember to call him a Super Bowl champion.

What was Johnson thinking as the final seconds of the Bucs' shockingly big victory wound down?

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"I thought of sitting at home, and how many times I sat at home and watched someone else do it, hoping, dreaming, and working to have an opportunity," Johnson said. "And I've said 'I'm going to Disney World' 100 times in front of a mirror, just kidding around. Every kid has."

Yeah, but how many "kids" get to do it for real, taping the now mandatory Disney commercial in the seconds after the Super Bowl ends? If you're wondering, both Johnson and Bucs head coach Jon Gruden struck deals last week to play Disney's Super Bowl pitchmen. Johnson had to shoot three spots touting his upcoming trip to Disneyland, and three more in a Disney World version. In the spots, Johnson appears holding his 21-month-old son, Max, and is accompanied by his wife, Nikki, who is 7 1/2 months pregnant with the couple's second child.

On Monday, in the whirlwind of activity and acclaim that always sweeps up a winning Super Bowl quarterback, the Johnson family will travel to nearby Disneyland -- up Interstate 5 in Anaheim -- to take part in the afternoon parade in the Magic Kingdom.

And here's the rest of Johnson's hectic schedule in the 48 hours or so immediately following his Super Bowl win: A 4 a.m. local time (7 a.m. EST) Monday live shot from the Bucs team hotel on Good Morning America, where he entertained questions from reporter Robin Roberts despite getting less than three hours sleep; then off to Disneyland and the parade; before making a quick late afternoon trip to Burbank to tape an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno

Johnson will fly home to Tampa on Monday night, in time to ride in the city's Tuesday afternoon Super Bowl victory parade, before leaving Wednesday morning for Hawaii and the Pro Bowl.

Sheesh, I'm exhausted just writing about it.

And lest you think Johnson is overdoing it, keep in mind that he turned down chances to appear Sunday night on Jimmy Kimmel's new ABC talk show in Los Angeles -- Bucs defensive tackle Warren Sapp was instead whisked by helicopter from San Diego -- and Craig Kilborn's late-night network gabfest on Monday.

Also upcoming is a national Got Milk? ad campaign for Johnson, in addition to an appearance on the front of a special edition box of Wheaties -- along with other Bucs teammates. In other words, your typical Super Bowl-winning full-court press by Madison Avenue and the media/entertainment industry.

But Johnson wasn't in the mood to discuss anything so insignificant as a few public appearances late Sunday night. Wearing faded blue jeans and a shirt that one old friend on hand described as "the least colorful Hawaiian shirt ever seen, which is perfect for Brad," Johnson touched on any number of topics springing forth from the Bucs' historic win.

• On whether he stopped at any point during Sunday's festivities and soaked up the Super Bowl atmosphere:

"There were two points when I did. There was Celine Dion singing God Bless America. That was strong. And the other one was just holding my boy, holding Max, at the very end of the game. Because everybody dreams of that.

"How many times can you make the Super Bowl, and let alone win it and then have the luxury of holding your kid? Even though he'll never remember, he'll see pictures, and that's a powerful feeling. You can't buy that."

• On whether he thought Sunday night about either Florida State's Bobby Bowden, Minnesota's Dennis Green or Washington's Daniel Snyder, the three figures who have in essence given up on him as a quarterback during his football career:

"Maybe that last guy you said," quipped Johnson, smiling coyly.

• On whether at any time last week he let his mind wander ahead to Sunday night, and the thought of celebrating a Super Bowl win:

"[Saturday] night, I woke up about 1 o'clock in the morning and my heart was pounding. I stayed up until about 5. I couldn't sleep. Then I went back to sleep until about 8. I was pretty good the rest of the week. I was pretty relaxed. But when I woke up at 1 in the morning [Saturday] night, I was a little nervous."

• On what he thought of his first Super Bowl experience:

"To me, the Super Bowl was last week, against Philadelphia. That was my Super Bowl. Last week was big. As crazy as that sounds, this week was just strange. It almost felt anticlimactic. The whole week felt surreal, because all week long we've been stuck in the hotel.

"I didn't know what was going on down in the Gaslamp Quarter. I didn't know I was at the Super Bowl. At the Super Bowl, it's weird. There are all the cameras, all the people, there are concerts going on. It's a football game, but an event. It's hard to describe unless you're actually playing.

"More than anything, I'm just glad to have it over with. That fourth quarter took forever. Even when it was 34-3, I knew it wasn't done, because I lost a game once in which we led 35-14 against Dallas in Washington."

• On whether he was unnerved by his slow start on Sunday, when he was 4-of-13 for 50 yards and one interception in the first quarter, and 14-of-21 for 165 yards and two touchdowns thereafter:

"I felt real calm, but the first quarter was ugly and I knew it when it was happening. I didn't feel bad, because it happened that way with San Francisco and it happened again in Philly. I didn't panic, but I was like, 'I didn't want to start that way.'

"I just wanted to stay with it, and settle down. I thought the drive we scored the first field goal on, to make it 3-3, that was big. Very big."

Johnson, the Bucs' offensive MVP, came up big all season. Sunday night, Tampa Bay center Jeff Christy, who has played with Johnson since their early days together in Minnesota, said he's not sure what Johnson's critics will find fault with now.

"They talk about him in the media, and say he's too slow, he's overweight, his arm isn't strong enough," Christy said. "But he just keeps bouncing back. And if you give him time, he picks a defense apart. It doesn't matter who you are playing."

On this night of nights, Johnson at last was surrounded by true believers. His mom, Ellen, and dad, Rick, were on hand. As was his sister, Julie, agent Phil Williams, business manager Rochelle Johnson, best friend, Nick Gonatas, marketing agent Brian Lammi, personal trainer Alex Serranos, and Johnson's high school football and basketball coaches -- Kenny Ford and Bill Burrows -- whom he flew in for the game.

By 12:20 a.m. Monday, Johnson had stood for more than three hours among this small but fiercely loyal group, exchanging backslaps, hugs and words of gratitude and satisfaction. Unspoken was that everyone seemed to understand that life would never quite be the same for Johnson. These were just the first few moments of realization that he and the rest of the Bucs had passed from the state of Super Bowl contenders to newly arrived champions.

Then, quickly, Johnson hugged his parents, bid his farewells and went upstairs to bed. The Bucs' victory party raged on, barely noticing his departure. It was just the way he intended to celebrate his long-awaited moment. Off to the side, but in his own way, front and center.

Don Banks covers pro football for CNNSI.com.

 

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