Johnson knows the value of labor

Rookie worked full time while at Northern Iowa

Phil Chien has been a facilities mechanic at the University of Northern Iowa for decades, and the school is always sending him students who are looking for full-time work during the summer. Some of them pan out. Some of them don’t.

Chien wasn’t really sure what to make of David Johnson three years ago when the youngster was first assigned to his detail, which involved repairing dorms around campus and doing everything from carpentry, lighting, flooring and cleaning out toilets and drains for $9 an hour.

“The first year he worked for us, he was always falling asleep from building to building,” Chien said Friday during a phone interview from Cedar Falls, Iowa. “But that second year. Man, what a change. He even said to me, ‘You notice I don’t fall asleep anymore? I’ve got a girlfriend now. I’m in bed by 10 o’clock every night.’

“Every once in a while, you get a kid like David and he turned out to be something incredibly special. I just love that kid. I wouldn’t be reluctant at all to call him my son. I’m telling you, I’d be proud of him even if he didn’t get a chance to play in the NFL.”

Johnson, who set school records with 4,687 career rushing yards and 49 career rushing touchdowns at Northern Iowa, officially began his pro career on Friday with the Cardinals during the first day of their three-day rookie minicamp at the team’s Tempe training facility.

A third-round pick with good size (6 feet 1, 234 pounds) and great hands as a pass catcher, Johnson reminds Cardinals coach Bruce Arians of the Bears’ Matt Forte when the running back first came out of Tulane — with one caveat.

“Maybe a little faster,” Arians said of Johnson.

After working 81⁄ hard hours a day under Chien for the past three years, Johnson couldn’t wait to sprint his way to the NFL. It’s not that he isn’t grateful

See CARDINALS, Page 4C

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At 3:10 p.m. Friday, Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale began his usual pre-game media session. One of the first questions was about starter Jeremy Hellickson, who would take the mound against the San Diego Padres three-and-a-half hours later.

“I think he’s about ready to get going the way he can pitch,” Hale said. “He’s starting to feel it.”

Hale was basing his comments in part on Hellickson’s last start, when he gave up three runs and six hits to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 5 innings. While the numbers weren’t great, Hale liked that Hellickson threw his fastball more often rather than relying on his secondary pitches. “He just seems more confident to me,” Hale said. That confidence took a shot Friday when Hellickson was pulled after just 4 innings and the Padres went on to win, 6-5, at Chase Field. Hellickson allowed five earned runs on eight hits, and when the night was over his ERA had ballooned to 5.85, by far the worst of Arizona’s starters.

“Just didn’t throw enough strikes early in the count like we talked about,” Hale said afterward. “You have to control the counts against good hitters, and he didn’t do a good job of that. (He) threw a lot of pitches. It just wasn’t a very good start for him.”

Hellickson walked batters, and only 56 of his 96 pitches were strikes. The performance was an unfortunate affirmation of something catcher Tuffy Gosewisch said before the game:

See D-BACKS, Page 7C