Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2004 | 10:04 a.m.
A year ago, Cornell Johnson owned this time and all of its invincibility and promise.
A year later, Johnson's athletic future is as unstable and murky as the road that brought him to it.
No longer is Johnson, 2002's local prep football hero, a darling in the fleeting machinations of recruiting that reach a climax today on national signing day for college scholarships. Once a heavily recruited star running back who led Desert Pines High School's run to the state championship game, Johnson now labors in obscurity at Feather River Community College in northern California with the hope of resurrecting the hype that used to shadow him.
Attention still does follow Johnson, just not always in ways he would prefer. Broken promises -- including some of his own -- litter the path of Johnson's heartening rise to star football hopeful, his humbling fall to junior college, and his improbable second trip down both roads.
In just the past month, Johnson abruptly blew off a paid recruiting trip to Utah by changing his plane ticket on a stopover to come home to Las Vegas, inexplicably skipped out on his final exams at Alfred State College in Alfred, N.Y., after compiling an NJCAA All-American football season that netted him multiple Division I scholarship offers, and then disappeared from sight for weeks before essentially returning to square one.
"It's more drama than ever before," Desert Pines coach Leon Evans said.
Somehow, Johnson landed at Feather River last week with another opportunity to slide into the spotlight of big-time college football.
"Most people in life don't get a second chance," Johnson said Tuesday from the Feather River weight room. "I'm not going to blow this chance."
Johnson said that even after losing all of his credit at Alfred State by missing his finals, Kentucky would still give him a chance to play next fall if he passes at least eight credits this semester. Kentucky officials declined to comment today on Johnson's claim.
At the same time, however, Feather River coach Rob Cushman said that Johnson must pass 24 credits before the fall just to be eligible to play junior college football next season, which Cushman expects Johnson to do. The contradiction underscores the uncertainty that surrounds Johnson and causes doubts about his future.
Unsure beginnings
When Johnson's senior year at Desert Pines began, every major college football program in the country knew of this 6-foot-1, 210-pound tailback with strength and speed. He did not disappoint, running for 2,105 yards and 37 touchdowns. Oklahoma, Miami and UCLA made his short list of schools as signing day approached.
Johnson, though, did not sign with anyone because his academic situation was awful. He did not take the ACT or SAT college entrance exams until midway through his senior year and his scores, combined on a sliding scale with his school grades, did not qualify him for Division I or I-AA football. While ultimately accepting his own responsibility, Johnson wishes his Desert Pines advisers had pushed him toward the tests sooner.
"They told me, but they never really told me," Johnson said. "But I'm not going to blame them. To everyone who's still in high school, take your tests early. Don't end up like me."
The big schools backed off. The scholarships dried up. No school with its pick of top players across the country waits for a doubtful non-qualifier.
"I was hurt," Johnson said. "I sat in my room and cried. Nobody wanted to wait for me."
Johnson retook the college tests and eventually qualified in June after his final grades from Desert Pines came in. Even at that late point, Johnson still thought he had a suitor in Kansas State... or was it Kansas?
Johnson confidently announced to Kansas-area media that he had covertly signed a letter of intent with Kansas State right after the February signing day. Yet the two people closest to Johnson at the time -- his mother and his mentor, Desert Pines teacher Julie Meyer-Carl -- both told a recruiting publication in Manhattan, Kan., that he was actually going to Kansas.
The truth was that Johnson never signed with either school and both Wildcats and Jayhawks coaches said they did not know what Johnson was talking about. Brian Gates, recruiting editor for Powercat Illustrated, could not make sense of the changing stories when he spoke to Johnson.
"He seemed like kind of a flake to me," Gates said.
Johnson still sounds confused by the situation today, saying only that he was "embarrassed" by Kansas State. Such confusion echoes through all of Johnson's unusual words and choices. Many have pulled at him since his football promise became clear, but few have been there for him to rely upon.
"He's a loner," said Evans, his high school coach. "He's pretty much on his own. He has to do whatever to survive."
Evans said that Johnson usually stays with friends or whoever will take him in when he comes back to Las Vegas, although Johnson said he most recently stayed with a sister. Johnson's family is loose at best, especially since his mother moved to Georgia after he graduated high school.
"He feels like people have dropped in and out of his life," Meyer-Carl said.
Back to reality
Shut out at the top levels, Johnson followed Meyer-Carl's advice and went to junior college at Alfred State, where Meyer-Carl's old friend, Mick Caba, is the head football coach.
In the tiny western New York town of Alfred -- 64 miles from Rochester with a population of just less than 4,000 -- Johnson thrived in anonymity. He rushed for 1,324 yards and 11 touchdowns in 11 games to set school records. Just as important was Johnson's renewed effort in the classroom.
"He was a model citizen, a model player," Caba said. "He went to class like he was supposed to and he was on track to pass the classes he was enrolled in."
Johnson earned honorable mention All-American status and revived Division I interest. He took a recruiting trip to Kentucky over Thanksgiving break, with a trip to Utah slated for the following weekend. Both schools were ready to offer Johnson a scholarship and the chance to start immediately in the fall.
On the Utah trip, Johnson flew to Cincinnati, where he was supposed to connect to Salt Lake City. Instead, Johnson changed his ticket to come to Las Vegas. He never told Caba or the Utah coaches, who waited for him at the airport until midnight. Johnson has not since spoken anyone at Utah or to Caba, who still hoped Johnson might return to Alfred State.
Almost two months later, Johnson offers little explanation for his actions.
"I don't know what it was," Johnson said. "At that point in time, I just didn't want to take the trip."
Utah officials would like to know why because they paid for the plane ticket that Johnson used to go home. Cushman said that Feather River's administration is attempting to settle the situation right now, but he expects that Johnson will have to pay Utah for the ticket.
"If I hurt anybody -- I want to be a man of my word -- I apologize for my mistake and I will never make that mistake again," Johnson said.
Johnson also did not take his final exams at Alfred State, forfeiting the credits he worked toward for four months that Caba said would make him Division I-eligible for the fall. The question screams out: Why?
"At that time, I just wanted to go," Johnson said.
And he went, coming home and hanging out for about the next few weeks, to the dismay and shock of many around him.
"He did this all to himself," Meyer-Carl said. "He was all on track. I think if he'd just hung on there another week and a half, everything would be alright and he'd be signed with a Division I."
Evans welcomed Johnson to Desert Pines to work out, not knowing how he got there, but only aware that Johnson might finally go Division I.
"We were saying the kid's going to turn it around, he's going to be the player we thought he'd be," Evans said. "Then over Christmas break, it all went to hell."
Next and last
Former Desert Pines quarterback Marcel Johnson, a friend of Cornell, urged him to come to Feather River. Marcel Johnson and almost 30 other Las Vegas natives play football at the school and fellow former teammate Kawon Walker, who now plays at Northern Arizona, said Cornell became interested in Feather River because more of his friends are there.
"He was getting some poor information from somebody and I don't know who," Caba said. "The kid has a bright future... had a bright future."
"It's beyond me. It's just mind-boggling to have that (Division I) opportunity and go to another junior college."
Evans said it might be hard for Johnson to repair his image after the Utah situation.
"He's burned a lot of bridges," Evans said. "It's almost like he's scared to succeed."
Johnson became concerned as December ended and his friends started going back to school and he had no place to go. Without another plan, Johnson called Cushman and began arrangements to go to Feather River. Cushman knows all about Johnson's past, but understands that such risks are somewhat inherent in junior college.
"I'm concerned. You're always concerned," Cushman said. "Junior college football is full of these kind of stories.
Johnson arrived in Quincy, Calif., last week to begin what could be a few months or maybe a year at Feather River.
"The last thing I wanted to do was play junior college football and it's the first thing I'm doing," Johnson said. "It's been hard. It's been real hard on me. This is no fun to me at all."
He moved into his dorm room just two days ago and is not even yet sure of his phone number.
"I've traveled more in one year than I did my whole life," Johnson said.
It is far from the travel Johnson once envisioned he would do as a Sooner or a Hurricane. Those dreams can still be reality -- Caba said another strong year at the junior college level could again give Johnson his choice of the nation's top programs.
For all the confusion about his past and his future, the game remains the one thing that Johnson can bank on.
"The only thing I really know is football."
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