During his first few seasons with the Tennessee Titans, Chris Johnson could outrun just about anyone in the NFL.
He could not outrun his fear, though. And that is how he ended up with the Titans in the first place.
Johnson told former NFL cornerback Bryant McFadden on the All Things Covered podcast on Wednesday that his unwillingness to have an MRI during a pre-draft visit with the Pittsburgh Steelers led that team to look elsewhere for help at running back. The Steelers ultimately selected Rashard Mendenhall at No. 23 overall, one spot before the Titans chose Johnson.
“I think (the Steelers) were probably going to take me,” Johnson said. “But they didn’t take me because I wouldn’t take the MRI during the visit.
“… I was supposed to be a Steeler.”
Johnson said he is claustrophobic and endured an MRI at that year’s scouting combine, albeit only by having the technicians pull him from the machine several times along the way. So, when Pittsburgh’s team doctors wanted to do their own test, Johnson balked and – following an unsuccessful pep talk from coach Mike Tomlin – was sent home.
Of course, Johnson’s enduring impact from the combine was the fact that he set a record when he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.24 seconds, and that speed immediately made him one of the league’s most dangerous players. It took him fewer than two years to become the first player ever with three touchdown runs of 85 yards or more.
At the time, Pittsburgh’s primary back was Willie Parker, who was nicknamed “Fast Willie” and had been to the Pro Bowl in 2006 and 2007. The Steelers apparently were ready to find his replacement, and Johnson would have been a good fit.
Parker’s NFL career ended after the 2009 season, when he was primarily a backup to Mendenhall. That, of course, was the year Johnson rushed for 2,006 yards with Tennessee.
McFadden, a cornerback with Pittsburgh at the time, said players on that team found out after the fact that the Steelers were interested in Johnson and why Mendenhall was the pick.
“We felt like we would have had two more [Super Bowl] rings [with Johnson],” McFadden said.
Johnson was the last of five running backs selected in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft. His 9.651 career rushing yards exceeded the total for the four chosen ahead of him, including Mendenhall, whose career total was 4,236. Only Matt Forte, a second-round pick by Chicago who ran for 9,796 yards, outgained Johnson.
In 10 seasons, Johnson faced the Steelers eight times and ran for just 435 yards on 126 carries. His average of 54.4 yards per game was his worst for any opponent he faced at least five times.
“Now that I think about it, man, it would have been crazy,” Johnson said. “It would have been crazy. … I always felt some type of way about Pittsburgh because of their situation, because I felt it could have been handled differently. I could see if I had been there all cocky ... saying, ‘Man, I don’t feel like going to a doctor.’
“Still to this day, if I have to get an MRI … this is a fear. I’m really claustrophobic.”
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