When Chris Johnson came out of high school in 2004 there was very little buzz about his football skills. In fact the 5-11 175 lb Johnson only received scholarship offers from Connecticut, East Carolina, and Eastern Kentucky University (EKU is division 2). Apparently Johnson, out of Olympia high school in Orlando, Florida didn’t interest the coaching staffs at Florida, Florida State, Miami [FL], or South Florida that much.

Johnson would eventually sign with East Carolina and go on to rush for 2,982 yards and score 32 rushing touchdowns in his four years with the school. Chris capped off his college career in dramatic fashion by setting an NCAA bowl record by gaining 408 all-purpose yards as part of an East Carolina 38-14 victory over Boise State in the 2007 Hawaii Bowl.

The Hawaii Bowl performance and his whole body of work at East Carolina in general finally made people start to take notice of Chris Johnson. So much so that the Tennessee Titans drafted Johnson with the 24th overall selection in the 2008 NFL Draft. In just four short years Chris had gone from being spurned by all his home state schools and mulling over just a few scholarship offers to being a first round NFL draft pick.

Chris would soon prove that he wasn’t just a college star and that even though he played in Conference USA rather than the SEC or Big 12 he could more then hold his own in the NFL. In his rookie season with the Tennessee Titans Johnson rushed for 1,228 yards, scored 10 total touchdowns, and led all rookie running backs in rushing yards per game with 81.9 yards per game. As a reward for his great play, Chris was selected to play in the 2008 Pro Bowl and finished second in the Associated Press rookie of the year voting just behind fellow rookie phenomenon quarterback Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons.

Johnson was definitely not flying under the radar anymore. Upon entering his second season with the Titans, NFL defensive coordinators and players were definitely now aware of the 5-11 running back. Chris didn’t seem to care much though and he eclipsed all his rookie numbers and rushed for 2006 yards which made him the leading rusher in the NFL for the 2009 season.

People were now debating whether the top running back in the NFL was Chris Johnson or Adrian Peterson. Back in 2004 it would have seemed silly to compare Johnson and Peterson. While Chris had a few meager scholarship offers, Peterson was rated as the number one prospect in the country and was being offered scholarships from many of the top programs in the nation. That was 2004 though and five years later Johnson was definitely making people take notice of how talented he really is.

What could Chris Johnson do for an encore performance after rushing for over 2,000 yards and leading the NFL in rushing yards in 2009? Johnson let his plans for this season be known earlier today and they certainly are ambitious.

"I'm shooting for 2,500, but I'll be happy with anything over the record," Johnson said.

The record that Chris Johnson is referring to is Eric Dickerson’s NFL single season rushing record of 2,105 yards. Johnson came 99 yards short last season and appears to be ready to come back with a vengeance this season.
That isn’t Johnson’s only goal though he also is determined to become the first man to rush for 2,000 yards in multiple seasons and Johnson is setting his sights on the MVP trophy. You can understand how Johnson might have a chip on his shoulder after he didn’t receive one single MVP vote after rushing for over 2,000 yards last season.

Obviously those that thought Chris might be satisfied and feel that he has nothing more to prove are mistaken. Chris Johnson appears to be more focused now than ever. Johnson has consistently had doubters over the course of his career and thus far he has silenced all of them. So I am not going to fall into the same trap as those other people and doubt that Chris can break Eric Dickerson’s record. This will definitely be a storyline to watch this season as Chris Johnson has shown he has the talent to break the record. Johnson isn’t shying away from the attention surrounding the record though instead he has laid to doubt any rest that he isn’t shooting for it. It would be ironic that a running back that was being recruited as a division 2 college football player is now being talked about in conversation with a record as monumental as this one. I’m sure Johnson would be the first to tell you though that he is concerned about where he finishes his football career and not where he started at.

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