Career
He was the starting quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons in their inaugural season of 1966. He also had a brief career with the Green Bay Packers. In 1974, he played with The Hawaiians of the World Football League.
Born and raised in San Antonio, Texas, Johnson graduated from its Sam Houston High School in 1962.
He played college football at Texas Agricultural and Industrial in Kingsville (now Texas Agricultural and Mechanical–Kingsville), teammates with guard Gene Upshaw. Johnson entered the 1966 NFL draft, and became the first Texas Agricultural and Industrial player to be selected in the first round (16th overall).
Over his professional career, he threw 647 of 1,286 passes (a 503-percentage) for 51 touchdowns and 90 interceptions.