Former Chargers star Gary 'Big Hands' Johnson dies

He was "Big Hands" to everyone outside the San Diego Chargers locker room. Inside of it and on the football field, where he excelled, he simply was "Hands."

Gary Johnson died Wednesday in his hometown of Shreveport, La., never recovering from a stroke he suffered July 20. He was 57.

"I was just telling my wife. Everybody liked 'Hands,' " Dan Fouts, the Hall of Fame quarterback and Johnson's teammate in San Diego for years, said from his Oregon home. "He was just a gentle giant, a great guy - although I'm sure opposing quarterbacks didn't think that highly of him."

The news comes shortly after the death of Don Coryell, the head coach during much of Johnson's time with the Chargers and architect of the most exciting run in franchise history.

A star at Grambling, Johnson was the Chargers' first pick in the 1975 draft, widely considered one of the best in NFL history. Conducted by head coach Tommy Prothro, that draft also included Hall of Fame defensive end Fred Dean, defensive tackle Louie Kelcher, cornerback Mike Williams, offensive tackle Billy Shields, safety Mike Fuller and running back Rickey Young.

"The Chargers remain the only team in history to have three defensive linemen (Johnson, Dean and Kelcher) start in a Pro Bowl," Fouts said. "What a defensive line that was, when you think about it."

Johnson played with the Chargers from 1975 to 1984, before being traded to San Francisco, where he won a Super Bowl ring with the 49ers. He was a first team All-Pro for San Diego in 1980 and '81 and made the Pro Bowl four times ('80, '81, '82 and '83). In 1980, he recorded 17½ sacks, still a Chargers record.

Johnson was given the nickname "Big Hands" by a teacher in eighth grade when he went to pick up a basketball in gym class in Bossier City, La. The moniker stuck, and as Johnson said before he was inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame in 2007, "I can't put my hands on a counter without people saying, 'You've got big hands.' "

Johnson was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997 and the Chargers Hall of Fame in 1999.