Charley Johnson

Charley Lane Johnson (November 22, 1938 – September 3, 2024) was an American professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the New Mexico State Aggies. Johnson played in the NFL for 15 years with three teams: the St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Oilers, and Denver Broncos. After his playing career, he became a professor of chemical engineering.

Early life Johnson was born in Big Spring, Texas, on November 22, 1938.

College career Johnson initially was set to play football with a scholarship at Schreiner Institute, but the school dropped football the season he arrived. He then transferred to New Mexico State University, but did so with a scholarship to play basketball instead and had to walk-on to play football there, though he eventually won the starting job at quarterback.

During his college football career at New Mexico State he became the only person to date to be named Most Valuable Player of the Sun Bowl in consecutive years, winning the award in 1959 and 1960. He is a member of the NMSU Sports Hall of Fame (1970), and was the first player in the history of the NMSU football program to have his jersey number (33) retired. and St. Louis Cardinals of the NFL, opting to go to St. Louis. After just 13 passing attempts in his 1961 rookie season, he became the Cardinals' primary starter for the next five years.

He was named to the NFL Pro Bowl in 1963 after career-bests 3,280 passing yards and 28 passing touchdowns, and November 1, 1965 ). In 1964, he led the league with 223 completions, 420 attempts, 3,045 passing yards, and 24 interceptions. In 1966, he had a league-leading four 4th quarter comebacks. He played backup to Jim Hart in 1967, at least in part because of military service required of Johnson. Despite starting just two games, Johnson again led the league with two 4th quarter comebacks in 1968, tied with Hart. and all 14 games for the 7–5–2 squad in 1973. This was the first winning season in Broncos history. His teammates named him the Broncos Most Valuable Player, and he was selected for first-team All-AFC honors by Pro Football Weekly and United Press International. In 1974, his 14th season, he tied for the league lead with Cincinnati's Ken Anderson in yards per attempt with 8.1, a first for Johnson. He began his final year with a 90-yard touchdown pass to Rick Upchurch against the Kansas City Chiefs, the only 90+ yard pass that decade by a Bronco. , his 16.45 yards per attempt in the game

NFL career statistics Legend Led the league Bold Career high

Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks 1961 STL 4 0 0-0 5 13 38.5 51 3.9 16 0 2 10.9 1 -3 -3.0 -3 0 1 10 1962 STL 11 10 3-6-1 150 308 48.7 2,440 7.9 86 16 20 65.9 25 138 5.5 19 3 17 184 1963 STL 14 14 9-5 222 423 52.5 3,280 7.8 78 28 21 79.5 41 143 3.5 16 1 40 372 1964 STL 14 14 9-3-2 223 420 53.1 3,045 7.3 78 21 24 69.4 31 93 3.0 19 2 37 298 1965 STL 11 11 5-6 155 322 48.1 2,439 7.6 78 18 15 73.0 25 60 2.4 15 1 20 184 1966 STL 9 9 7-1-1 103 205 50.2 1,334 6.5 69 10 11 65.0 20 39 2.0 9 2 18 170 1967 STL 5 0 0-0 12 29 41.4 162 5.6 36 1 3 31.8 0 0 0.0 0 0 2 10 1968 STL 7 2 1-1 29 67 43.3 330 4.9 30 1 1 57.4 5 -1 -0.2 3 0 7 64 1969 STL 12 9 2-6-1 131 260 50.4 1,847 7.1 84 13 13 69.5 17 51 3.0 15 1 11 101 1970 HOU 10 10 3-7 144 281 51.2 1,652 5.9 63 7 12 59.8 5 3 0.6 9 0 15 124 1971 HOU 14 4 0-4 46 94 48.9 592 6.3 70 3 7 48.7 2 0 0.0 0 0 8 61 1972 DEN 12 9 4-5 132 238 55.5 1,783 7.5 60 14 14 74.6 3 0 0.0 0 0 12 82 1973 DEN 14 14 7-5-2 184 346 53.2 2,465 7.1 62 20 17 74.9 7 -2 -0.3 0 0 26 177 1974 DEN 14 12 6-5-1 136 244 55.7 1,969 8.1 73 13 9 84.5 4 -3 -0.8 0 0 36 270 1975 DEN 14 6 3-3 65 142 45.8 1,021 7.2 90 5 12 46.7 10 21 2.1 13 0 10 79 Career 165 124 59-57-8 1,737 3,392 51.2 24,410 7.2 90 170 181 69.2 196 539 2.8 19 10 260 2,186

Football awards and honors Johnson has received the following awards and honors, among others; Johnson continued his academic pursuits and obtained master's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Washington University in St. Louis while also playing in the NFL, obtaining his Ph.D. during his time with the Houston Oilers.

After his football career and military service were over, he worked in industry, opening Johnson Compression Services in Houston in 1981 and working as an engineering and product development consultant until 1999. In 2000, he was hired to head New Mexico State's chemical engineering department, a position he held until 2004. He then became a professor in the department until his retirement in May 2012.

Death Johnson died on September 3, 2024, at age 85. His wife of 62 years, Barbara, had pre-deceased him.