Former Classical football star Tony Johnson didn’t take the easy road to where he is today. Johnson, who’ll be inducted into the Merrimack Athletics Hall of Fame, was in and out of foster homes during his youth. At age 10 he discovered his love for football as a West Lynn Pop Warner Player, was welcomed with open arms by the Watler family and the rest was history.
“I was in and out of a couple of households,” Johnson, 29, said. “I was able to fight through that. I met the family who I consider my family now, Harold and Karen Watler, and having them in my life was amazing. They took me and my younger brother Casey in. Having them as my role models really made it easy to kind of make the right decisions and go down the right path.”
Merrimack will officially induct Johnson and the other four members of the 2019 class Friday night at the school’s athletics complex.
“It wasn’t something that I was expecting,” Johnson said. “They took a couple years off and now they’re bringing the hall of fame program back. I thought it would be a cool accomplishment but I didn’t think it would happen so soon. It took a couple of days for it to set in. It gave me a chance to reflect on things and all the people that helped me get where I am.”
Johnson was a 2-year varsity starter for former Rams coach Matt Durgin at Classical. His battles off the field, Durgin said, never carried over.
“Tony was always a class act on the field and off the field,” Durgin said. “He was always a great leader. He went on to have a great college career and him being recognized is a great honor. It was amazing, the adversity he dealt with. I never saw it as an obstacle. He was always ready to go. He did well in school, he did well on the football field. Tony was a very self-motivated kid. It was an honor to coach him.”
With guidance from Durgin and assistant coach Derek Dana, Johnson landed at Division II Merrimack. And he flourished.
His impressive resume at Merrimack includes All-American honors in 2010, 2-time NE10 Defensive Lineman of the Year, two-time Daktronics All-Super Region 1 Team selection and New England Football Writers’ and Football Gazette All-Region honors. Johnson still leads Merrimack in career sacks (36) and single-season sacks (11.5).
Despite his individual accolades, Johnson pointed to team camaraderies as what he cherished the most from his college football experiences.
“I definitely remember the battles we went through,” Johnson said. “My senior year we went out to Pennsylvania to play a couple teams out there. I remember the times in the locker room, the times on the practice field, the times in the weight room with my teammates. All that team bonding and things of that nature.”
After graduating with a degree in business management in 2012, Johnson drew mini-camp invites from the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets.
“I got to practice with first and second-round draft picks,” Johnson said. “It was a surreal experience. I had a tryout with the Jets and a couple other tryouts with some CFL teams.”
But things didn’t work out for Johnson in professional football so he leaned on his education through his next endeavors. Johnson’s currently a corporate account executive at LogMeIn, a software company based in Boston.
“I’m forever in debt to football because the amount of doors it opened,” Johnson said. “One of the biggest doors it opened was the free education and taking advantage of a four-year private school. It taught me a lot and gave me the itch to go down the road I’m going now. The education and not needing to rely on the game any more helped me put the game down, in a sense. When you have to start a new chapter in your life, it’s good to have other tools. My education played a massive impact in my life.”
Friday night, Johnson will deliver a brief speech during his induction ceremony. He plans to home in on those who’ve impacted his life- coaches, friends, and of course, the Watler family.
“The Watlers took me in at a really crucial time in my life,” Johnson said. “I owe a lot to them. Growing up the way I did is something you can’t get through by yourself. All the friends and families that took me in with open arms, this is really dedicated to them.”
