Sports
Suisun City's James-Michael Johnson Playing in Senior Bowl Today
The Rodriguez High graduate should be starting at middle linebacker.
Suisun City native and Rodriguez High School graduate James-Michael Johnson moves one step closer to his NFL dream as he will play in the Senior Bowl today in Mobile, Ala.
The game, which will be on NFL Network at 1 p.m. Pacific time, features outgoing college seniors who are now prospects in the upcoming 2012 NFL Draft in late April. Johnson is one of the hopefuls looking to make a name for himself to NFL scouts this weekend.
“100 percent of the players that played in this game last year were on an NFL roster at the start of the season,” Johnson said. “So if you make it to this game you’re one of the best of the best.”
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Johnson will play for the North team, which is being coached by the staff of the Minnesota Vikings while the South is being run by the Washington Redskins. Hall of Fame middle linebacker and former San Francisco 49ers head coach Mike Singletary is the current linebackers/assistant head coach for the Vikings.
There aren’t many other people who could teach Johnson more about the position he wants to play at the pro level than Singletary.
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“I’m learning something every day about playing middle linebacker,” Johnson said. “It’s a blessing just to have him coach me.”
Johnson is ranked as the No. 5 inside linebacker prospect by nfldraftscout.com. The Reno Gazette-Journal reports that the former University of Nevada star has been getting good reviews from scouts and analysts in the week leading up to today’s game.
Those projections and experts mean nothing to Johnson.
“I always don’t pay too much attention to those draft boards,” he said. “People who make those aren’t the one doing the drafting.”
Before Johnson’s trip to Alabama for the Senior Bowl, he was training at Athletes’ Performance in Carson, Calif. He will return there to prepare for the NFL Combine in Indianapolis which starts on Feb. 22.
Johnson, who grew up watching the Oakland Raiders, doesn’t really care who drafts him.
“I don’t have a preference,” he said. “I’ll play on the moon if that’s where they want me to play at.”
Follow Peter Fournier on Twitter: @P_Fournier