Former Texas receiver eager to show Redblacks he’s mature

Daje Johnson admits he made mistakes, that he was young and immature.

At age 23, the dynamic receiver/returner who was in and out of trouble with coaches Mack Brown and Charlie Strong at the University of Texas is in training camp looking to make an impression with the Ottawa Redblacks.

What the Redblacks are getting, Johnson says, is a man who has done plenty of growing up since being suspended multiple times while playing college football for “team violations.” He has looked inside himself and tried to wipe out the bad decisions, relying on his faith to show him the right path.

“I can’t even remember how many times I was suspended,” said Johnson, who showed Texas fans flashes of brilliance. “I’ve had setbacks, but I’m looking to the future. It was a learning experience. I had to grow up. I had to be my own person — don’t follow the wrong crowd, pick the right friends and everything will fall into place.”

While in college, the aspiring rapper got in trouble when he released a song, Dealer. (“If you lookin’ for the dealer, I got the plug probably catch him with the reefer.”)

“Me and my friends, we were just having fun with it. I didn’t mean anything by it,” said Johnson, who lists Kendrick Lamar and Drake among his favourites. “It was supposed to be an inhouse thing with my friends. I shouldn’t have released it. It was like, ‘This kind of sounds good, we should let people hear it.’ We were hyped, being young, we weren’t really thinking about the consequences of the lyrics.

“Some of the things I did, it was bad decision making, I was young. The sky’s the limit for me now. I’m not looking back to that.”

Johnson, whose dad is former NFLer (Kansas City and Chicago) Clyde and mom is Alexis, has found faith along his journey. Since then, there has been an awakening of sorts.

“Getting close to God was my biggest thing,” he said. “Once I did that, everything else was steady. It was something that was always there, but it never came out of me. I always had a

Some of the things I did, it was bad decision making, I was young.

relationship with Him on the inside. Once you get into trouble, people fall away from you — I was by myself and I got closer with Him.”

And through everything, his family remained in his corner.

“They were in my ear, they knew the potential, they knew the side of me people didn’t see,” he said. “They knew I was a good kid, with good character. They just wanted for that to come out.”

Johnson was with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons in 2016. He heard from the Redblacks after he was released and signed this week.

“I’m a hard worker,” he said. “I’m a team player who can make plays. It’s an adjustment, but I can buy into the program and bring intensity and a high level of character.” Twitter.com/TimCBaines