Bill Johnson

William Levi Johnson Sr. (September 14, 1926 – January 7, 2011), frequently known by the nickname "Tiger", was an American professional football player and coach. He played center for the San Francisco 49ers from 1948 to 1956.

Biography Early life

Bill Johnson was born in Tyler, Texas, where he was raised by his single mother and five older siblings. Among his siblings was older brother Gilbert Johnson, who played quarterback at Southern Methodist University with the iconic running back Doak Walker. He was a football and baseball star for Tyler Junior College and Texas A&M University and graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University.

Professional football player

Although known mostly for his accomplishments as a football player in the National Football League (NFL), Johnson had a prolific career in college as well, not only in football, but also baseball. He began his college football career at Tyler Junior College, a small school in Johnson's hometown of Tyler, Texas. He finished his collegiate career with Texas A&M University.

The end of his college sports career brought about a pressing issue; was Johnson to pursue a professional career in the MLB with the Cincinnati Reds, who had offered him a minor-league contract, or test his football ability in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, who offered Bill with a non-drafted rookie free agent contract. Johnson decided to go with football, even though his true love was baseball. He was a phenomenal catcher at the collegiate level, but always stated that he would have never made it in "the bigs" due to a lack of ability in throwing out base runners when they would attempt to steal.

Johnson gained the nickname of "Tiger" in his first season as a 49er. He spent most of his 1948 rookie season injured, only seeing the field in five of the twelve regular season games due in large part to a broken left hand suffered in a preseason game. Sitting in a bar with teammates Norm Standlee and Nick Susoeff, the rookie Johnson became the butt of a joke for collecting checks while unable to play due to the cast on his hand. "When I get out of this thing, I'm going to come out like a tiger!" Johnson replied.

Johnson's eldest son, Bill Jr., was the former CEO of HJ Heinz.