Somehow, the image just didn`t fit, just didn`t make sense.
There was Troy Johnson, one of the young Turks of the Bears, a variation of the step to the next Super Bowl Shuffle. There was Troy Johnson, sitting with a plastic garbage bag full of personal belongings.
He was probably holding it for Glenell Sanders, Brent White or one of the other easily expendable rookies. That`s the kind of guy Troy is. Probably, he was trying to console a youngster who just had a dream shattered before his eyes.
Then you see Johnson walk out to the car driven by his wife, and you realize that garbage bag is his.
”They decided to keep more defensive linemen and defensive backs this year,” Johnson begins in what may be his most eloquent interview in the three years he quietly went about his business. ”Mike Ditka said it was a numbers thing. All indications were that-I think I played well enough to make the team. I`m sure they thought the same thing.”
The coaching staff promoted Johnson ahead of starting right linebacker Jim Morrissey just two weeks ago. In the last 14 days, Johnson played his usual game-tough vs. the run, adequate vs. the pass-yet suddenly his world is turned upside down.
”Troy was a victim of-I`m not even sure what Troy was a victim of,”
Ditka said. ”Troy Johnson did nothing to get himself cut except that it was a numbers situation and I felt Mickey Pruitt played so well against the pass. We have a lot of linebackers who play the game similar. They`re like clones of each other. Pruitt`s best asset is he`s our best cover guy.”
It didn`t really come down to Pruitt vs. Johnson. It was more Johnson`s value weighed against keeping an extra lineman in case Dan Hampton`s knee betrays him or William Perry`s appetite leaves him belly-up. And it was keeping an extra defensive back as a precaution against the new style of pass- happy offenses.
Pruitt, Johnson, Dante Jones and defensive backs Lemuel Stinson and David Tate were the nucleus of the ”Get-Fresh Crew,” who showed up early and stayed late in 1988, making long hours of practice fun with their rookie antics. And now the ”Get-Fresh Crew” has lost one of its charter members.
”This was the hardest guy I`ve had to talk to in the five years I`ve been here,” said linebacker coach Dave McGinnis, who intercepted Johnson and spared him the ignominy of walking into the locker room with the ”fellas”
and not seeing his name on the 47-man roster. ”This is no slight to Troy and not a relection of his ability. We only kept six healthy linebackers because coach Ditka wanted to keep eight linemen and eight defensive backs.”
Johnson was never an exceptional athlete, but the fifth-round pick out of Oklahoma outworked his competition for two seasons and flashed occasional big- play potential. He is 6 feet 2 inches, 236 pounds, sort of an Everyman when it comes to linebackers. And on Labor Day, Everyman was out of a job.
He got caught in the advent of a new trend in pro football, one where quick, little receivers line up four at a time and bedevil power linebackers like Johnson, better suited to standing up brawny fullbacks or muscling a tight end.
”The thing is, teams are passing more now, and Mickey, Mike Singletary, Ron Rivera, Jim Morrissey-these guys are a little ahead of me in pass coverage,” Johnson said. ”I know I`m definitely better against the run, and I`ve been coming into my own on pass coverage. But they can`t wait on something like that.
”I pray and hope there is a team out there who can use me. If not, I`m not going to panic. I`ll just be patient for now, spend some time with my family.” This is the worst time to get cut, as teams finalize their rosters for Sunday`s openers.
”I can`t let this make me think I can`t play,” he said. ”I`m a little down, but I know I can play in this league. I`ve still got confidence.”
What he needs is a team to play for.
