Former Quarterback Playing For Bentley

Bryant Johnson graduated in 2007 from Milford High School, where he led the Scarlet Hawks to a Super Bowl championship and was a three sport captain in football, basketball and baseball. He was the Central Massachusetts 1A league MVP in football twice ('05 and '06) and was a two-time Telegram & Gazette All-Star in football and baseball.

Favorite food: Buffalo wings

What's on your iPod: "Find Your Love," by Drake

Favorite movie: Inception

What have you been up to since you graduated?

I came to Bentley to play football and when I got here as a freshman there were two junior quarterbacks in front of me, so I decided to red-shirt, which at the time was pretty difficult sitting out and not playing at all. I was going from playing three sports in high school to basically playing nothing in college. It was really tough for me. I took advantage of the year and really got to learn a lot about defenses and stuff like that, which I didn't really learn in high school. So it actually turned out to be really beneficial for me.

My sophomore year I saw action in eight games. I started one and came into a game against Assumption at halftime, which we ended up coming back and winning. That game gave me some confidence going into my junior year, which I was the starter in.

We ended up having a good year. We went 8-2 and we tied for the league championship, which has been the first time in a few years. And this year, we've had some ups and downs, but we've won our last three games and we're playing our best football all year.

Now, you mentioned that you red shirted your freshman year. I've only heard of it if you had an injury; most kids probably wouldn't do that otherwise. That's a very interesting choice. So, it was pretty much because ... you kind of figured you wouldn't get a lot of time?

Yeah, my coach had given me the option. He said that he thought I had a lot of potential and that I was going to have a chance to play later on in my career. He said if I wanted to red-shirt I could. If not, I was probably going to play in garbage time that year. So looking at it then, it was kind of a tough decision, but looking back on it, it's a no-brainer because I actually now have another year after this year, which I'm planning on going to grad school..

That was my next question; I was wondering if you were going to do grad school.

Yes, I am. I got accepted here at Bentley, so I'm planning on going straight through and doing the five-year program and playing football here. It's going to be good.

What are you majoring in?

Accounting. It's just something that has always really come easy to me. I didn't know what I wanted to do when I first got here, but I took an accounting course my freshman year and it was almost like commonsense to me, so I decided to go with that. A lot of kids hate it, but I actually really don't mind it all.

What do you remember most about your time spent at Milford High School? Leave sports out of it for now.

Leave sports out of it; that's kind of tough (laughs). No, I mean some of my closest friends today are still from there. I have a lot of good memories with kids that I grew up with and I was really close with my senior class. I guess that's pretty much about it (laughs).

All right, let's jump to sports then.

My best memory from high school would probably be winning the Super Bowl my senior year. We had, I think it was, 22 seniors on the team and about 17 of those kids I was playing Pop-Warner football with since I was 9-years-old. Just growing up and watching us work every year and get better and better and then finally win a Super Bowl is something special. I mean, my freshman year, Milford was 0-11 and to turn it around and basically be the class that caused that is something special.

You mentioned Pop-Warner football. Was that what kind of got you into football or was there a parent or sibling that got you into that?

My father played and won a Super Bowl at Milford, too. He used to always tell me stories about when he played, he played with Howie Long. So when I was growing up I always dreamed of doing the same thing my father did.

So your dad played with Howie Long? That's cool, I don't know if he'll [your father] remember, but does he know a guy by the last name Saulen? His father, I believe, played on that team and his son went to Uxbridge when I attended and he ended up going to Colgate to play Division 1A football.

Really? He coached with my father. Freshman football a couple of years back. I actually just saw him the other night for a wake that I went to.

Was it for Coach Corbin?

Yeah.

Did you know Coach Corbin?

I did. Actually my grandmother was pretty close to him. He had called my grandmother a couple weeks before because I was thinking about getting into coaching and he told her, 'If Bryant needs any help, let him know.' I knew him pretty well.

Turning it back to the interview, do you ever get a chance to come back and watch the Hawks play or have you fully converted yourself to Bentley athletics?

It's tough to watch them play football. I mean, I would love to get home for a game, but even on the nights where they have a Friday night game and I have a Saturday game, the hour drive down and back is last thing I want to do before the game the next day. So it's tough, but I always go to the Thanksgiving Day game and if we ever get a bye-week I'll come home for that. But it's great to come back and watch these kids. It is tough now going back, I don't know most of the kids on the field and I feel really old (laughs). Naw, but it's still good to get back to watch them.

What made you choose Bentley University and what other schools were you looking at or were offering you scholarships?

I knew going into college that I wanted to play football, but I thought that I was going to be playing football and baseball. So I looked at schools where I could try to play both. I looked at a bunch of schools in this league and a couple of 1AA teams, but I knew that I wanted to try to go to the best academic school. I actually heard from Bentley first that I was accepted and as soon as I heard that I called the other schools that I had applied to and told them I was withdrawing my application.

Do you minor in anything or do any extracurricular activities or is it just football and accounting?

I'm minoring in management and I'm a part of SAAC, Student Athletes Advisory Committee. It's basically a couple of representatives from each sports team at Bentley and we try to get together and think of ways to bring together the different sports teams and get them going to one another's games, like get the football team to go to the soccer game to support each other. I also intern for a company in Bedford called Project Software. I do that about 10 hours a week.

What are you going to do once the college life is over and the real world hits?

That's a tough one. I don't know. I'll probably get a job somewhere, maybe with the company I'm interning with now. I'm not really sure. But my dream would eventually be to someday coach. I'll probably get a job right away, but eventually, hopefully, I'm coaching somewhere some day.

Who was the most influential person in your life, whether it's academics or sports? 

My father, definitely. He's always been the one that I turn to for any type of advice, whether it is in sports or in life. He played three sports in high school and he kind of was my role model growing up and he guided me in the right direction.