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Mom a source of strength for Miami Hurricanes recruit Duke Johnson
Randy “Duke’’ Johnson lay on the turf of Traz Powell Stadium, his head pounding.
This wasn’t a concussion, nor was it the result of a competitor pulling his facemask or delivering an especially potent tackle.
This was a migraine, and the 17-year-old running back wanted his mother.
So, the Miami Norland High coaching staff sent word to Cassandra Mitchell — Johnson’s mom — that her son needed her.
Mitchell came down from the stands, walked onto the sideline and began to massage the back of Duke’s head.
That’s when her phone started ringing, and didn’t stop.
“Oh my Gosh,’’ Mitchell said, laughing. “Everybody was having fits. They said, ‘Take his head off your shoulder and the [pacifier] out of his mouth,
because people are going to think he’s a mama’s boy.’
“I said, ‘He is a mama’s boy.’ If my baby needs me, I’m going to be right there.’’
And Johnson, the Miami Hurricanes’ most coveted recruit as National Signing Day on Feb. 1 approaches, is there for his mother.
The 5-9, 180-pound speedster who earlier this month was named Mr. Florida Football as the state’s Class 5A Player of the Year
(2,087 yards and 29 touchdowns for a 10-yard-per-carry average this season), committed to Miami as a junior.
He has never wavered.
Through UM’s 6-6 season, self-imposed bowl ban, current NCAA investigation and looming sanctions, Johnson has stuck with the Canes.
It’s the team he loved as a child, when he wowed young and old as a wiry, evasive tailback, linebacker, punt returner and kicker for the Liberty City Warriors.
It’s the team that had his favorite player — the late safety Sean Taylor.
And it’s the best team, he figured, that was closest to his mother, a Miami-Dade corrections officer for the Turner-Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
“My mom and I have a great relationship,’’ said Johnson, 18, who doubled as a defensive back for much of his high school career.
“She’s pretty much the only person I’ve had with me my whole life. My mom would give her last anything just to help somebody.
She’s a very kind person. There were times that things weren’t always great in my household,
but she always made me and my sister, Ranisha, believe that everything would be OK.’’
A SAD TIME
Johnson’s father, Randy Johnson Sr., died of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2008 when Duke was 14.
ALS is a progressive disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.
Eventually, those afflicted lose complete strength of muscle groups and have trouble swallowing, holding up the head and even breathing.
“Randy was 40 when he took sick and died when he was 41,’’ Mitchell, now remarried to Miami Beach police detective Duane Mitchell, said.
“We had already been divorced for several years, but I had two kids from him and took a leave of absence from my job for two months.
Duke didn’t want to go to the hospital, but I would take him.’’
Johnson lived with his mom and spent less time with Randy Sr., who was a running back for Miami Edison and met Cassandra — a Miami
Central basketball player — at a Pizza Hut when she had a job there as a teenager.
“My dad wanted me to stay focused at all times and do the right thing no matter what anyone else said,’’ Johnson said.
“’Stay focused,’’’ my dad would say. ‘School is most important.’’’
Johnson was nicknamed Duke after Cassandra’s grandfather, William Howard “Duke†Coleman, who raised Cassandra near
Tallahassee on the Georgia border. He said he has heeded his father’s words, and would like to one day be a coach after
his football career ends. “I just want to be around football,†he said.
STUNNING STATS
No wonder. This confident senior with a contagious smile makes running with a ball in his hands seem effortless. Johnson,
who also returns kickoffs and punts and runs the 40 in 4.4 seconds, left competitors and teammates in awe while leading
the Vikings to this season’s state title. He ran for 230 yards and four touchdowns against perennial powerhouse Glades
Central in the playoffs. The next week he had the fourth-highest single-game performance in Miami-Dade history, with
375 yards and three touchdowns in the state semifinal – a game that Palmetto led 20-0.
In Norland’s 38-0 state title victory last month over Crawfordville Wakulla, Johnson had five touchdowns and was named the Most Valuable Player.
He finished his high school career with 5,109 yards on 504 carries, with 70 touchdowns – third all-time in Miami-Dade history.
“He’s very patient yet explosive at the same time,’’ said Norland coach Daryle Heidelburg. He waits for his holes to open,
but once they do, his first three or four steps are so quick that he gets there before the defender has a chance to close the gap.’’
Recruiting analyst Larry Blustein has followed Johnson’s career since his Optimist days in Liberty City. He remembers the
first time he saw him as a 12-year-old, when Johnson played multiple positions. “He ran, picked off a pass, knocked the
ball out of a kid’s hands and got a fumble,†Blustein said. “Someone said, ‘Look at that kid taking off!’ I said, ‘Holy Christmas, that kid’s a beast.’ â€
‘CRAZY GOOD’
Norland linebacker Feddie Davey and Johnson are so close they’re like brothers. Davey, who visited Washington State
on a recruiting trip last weekend, said Johnson “is crazy good’’ on the field, and compassionate off it.
“He inspires goodness in my life,’’ Davey said, “a real good kid with a great personality. We talk about issues we have
and ways to overcome them. Football brought us close, but we really became friends in class.
We made a vow to meet up in the NFL a few years from now.’’
Johnson, determined to play as a freshman, said he “loves the play calling’’ of UM offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.
“He switches up plays and I like when offenses are unpredictable.’’ He said he doesn’t fret about possible UM
sanctions in the case involving former booster Nevin Shapiro.
“That’s just the school I always wanted to go to,’’ he said. “I want to help get UM back to what it once was.
As long as they don’t take away my scholarship, I have nothing to worry about.’’
And as long as he’s close to home, he knows the comforting presence of his mother will never be far away.
“He’s a homebody,’’ said his mother. “If I could just get him to comb his hair and take out the garbage he would be a perfect child.’’
-source
Randy “Duke’’ Johnson lay on the turf of Traz Powell Stadium, his head pounding.
This wasn’t a concussion, nor was it the result of a competitor pulling his facemask or delivering an especially potent tackle.
This was a migraine, and the 17-year-old running back wanted his mother.
So, the Miami Norland High coaching staff sent word to Cassandra Mitchell — Johnson’s mom — that her son needed her.
Mitchell came down from the stands, walked onto the sideline and began to massage the back of Duke’s head.
That’s when her phone started ringing, and didn’t stop.
“Oh my Gosh,’’ Mitchell said, laughing. “Everybody was having fits. They said, ‘Take his head off your shoulder and the [pacifier] out of his mouth,
because people are going to think he’s a mama’s boy.’
“I said, ‘He is a mama’s boy.’ If my baby needs me, I’m going to be right there.’’
And Johnson, the Miami Hurricanes’ most coveted recruit as National Signing Day on Feb. 1 approaches, is there for his mother.
The 5-9, 180-pound speedster who earlier this month was named Mr. Florida Football as the state’s Class 5A Player of the Year
(2,087 yards and 29 touchdowns for a 10-yard-per-carry average this season), committed to Miami as a junior.
He has never wavered.
Through UM’s 6-6 season, self-imposed bowl ban, current NCAA investigation and looming sanctions, Johnson has stuck with the Canes.
It’s the team he loved as a child, when he wowed young and old as a wiry, evasive tailback, linebacker, punt returner and kicker for the Liberty City Warriors.
It’s the team that had his favorite player — the late safety Sean Taylor.
And it’s the best team, he figured, that was closest to his mother, a Miami-Dade corrections officer for the Turner-Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
“My mom and I have a great relationship,’’ said Johnson, 18, who doubled as a defensive back for much of his high school career.
“She’s pretty much the only person I’ve had with me my whole life. My mom would give her last anything just to help somebody.
She’s a very kind person. There were times that things weren’t always great in my household,
but she always made me and my sister, Ranisha, believe that everything would be OK.’’
A SAD TIME
Johnson’s father, Randy Johnson Sr., died of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2008 when Duke was 14.
ALS is a progressive disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement.
Eventually, those afflicted lose complete strength of muscle groups and have trouble swallowing, holding up the head and even breathing.
“Randy was 40 when he took sick and died when he was 41,’’ Mitchell, now remarried to Miami Beach police detective Duane Mitchell, said.
“We had already been divorced for several years, but I had two kids from him and took a leave of absence from my job for two months.
Duke didn’t want to go to the hospital, but I would take him.’’
Johnson lived with his mom and spent less time with Randy Sr., who was a running back for Miami Edison and met Cassandra — a Miami
Central basketball player — at a Pizza Hut when she had a job there as a teenager.
“My dad wanted me to stay focused at all times and do the right thing no matter what anyone else said,’’ Johnson said.
“’Stay focused,’’’ my dad would say. ‘School is most important.’’’
Johnson was nicknamed Duke after Cassandra’s grandfather, William Howard “Duke†Coleman, who raised Cassandra near
Tallahassee on the Georgia border. He said he has heeded his father’s words, and would like to one day be a coach after
his football career ends. “I just want to be around football,†he said.
STUNNING STATS
No wonder. This confident senior with a contagious smile makes running with a ball in his hands seem effortless. Johnson,
who also returns kickoffs and punts and runs the 40 in 4.4 seconds, left competitors and teammates in awe while leading
the Vikings to this season’s state title. He ran for 230 yards and four touchdowns against perennial powerhouse Glades
Central in the playoffs. The next week he had the fourth-highest single-game performance in Miami-Dade history, with
375 yards and three touchdowns in the state semifinal – a game that Palmetto led 20-0.
In Norland’s 38-0 state title victory last month over Crawfordville Wakulla, Johnson had five touchdowns and was named the Most Valuable Player.
He finished his high school career with 5,109 yards on 504 carries, with 70 touchdowns – third all-time in Miami-Dade history.
“He’s very patient yet explosive at the same time,’’ said Norland coach Daryle Heidelburg. He waits for his holes to open,
but once they do, his first three or four steps are so quick that he gets there before the defender has a chance to close the gap.’’
Recruiting analyst Larry Blustein has followed Johnson’s career since his Optimist days in Liberty City. He remembers the
first time he saw him as a 12-year-old, when Johnson played multiple positions. “He ran, picked off a pass, knocked the
ball out of a kid’s hands and got a fumble,†Blustein said. “Someone said, ‘Look at that kid taking off!’ I said, ‘Holy Christmas, that kid’s a beast.’ â€
‘CRAZY GOOD’
Norland linebacker Feddie Davey and Johnson are so close they’re like brothers. Davey, who visited Washington State
on a recruiting trip last weekend, said Johnson “is crazy good’’ on the field, and compassionate off it.
“He inspires goodness in my life,’’ Davey said, “a real good kid with a great personality. We talk about issues we have
and ways to overcome them. Football brought us close, but we really became friends in class.
We made a vow to meet up in the NFL a few years from now.’’
Johnson, determined to play as a freshman, said he “loves the play calling’’ of UM offensive coordinator Jedd Fisch.
“He switches up plays and I like when offenses are unpredictable.’’ He said he doesn’t fret about possible UM
sanctions in the case involving former booster Nevin Shapiro.
“That’s just the school I always wanted to go to,’’ he said. “I want to help get UM back to what it once was.
As long as they don’t take away my scholarship, I have nothing to worry about.’’
And as long as he’s close to home, he knows the comforting presence of his mother will never be far away.
“He’s a homebody,’’ said his mother. “If I could just get him to comb his hair and take out the garbage he would be a perfect child.’’
-source
