Jets' Keyshawn Johnson: Catching up with Number 19

There was a buzz inside The Theater at Madison Square Garden 30 years ago when the Jets had the first overall pick in the NFL Draft that resonates to this day with the player they selected.

Keyshawn Johnson can still hear the loud chants from the many Jets’ fans in attendance.

“The energy was crazy,” Keyshawn Johnson told Newsday during a phone interview. “They were screaming, ‘KEY-SHAWN JOHN-SON!’ People just going crazy, and I was like, ‘Oh, shoot. What did I just get myself into?’ ”

After a pause, Johnson re-enacted those chants again.

“KEY-SHAWN JOHN-SON! KEY-SHAWN JOHN-SON!’”

The fans really erupted after former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced the Jets pick. Johnson walked on to the stage, held up a green Jets No. 1 jersey and urged the crowd to get louder.

“I was 22 years old, who wouldn’t love it? It was a big-time thing,” Johnson said. “They were crying and jumping up and down. People were excited because they felt like I would come there and do some magical things to help the team be resurgent. It eventually happened.

“Then the Jets did the Jet thing — they traded me.”

Johnson spent four seasons wearing the Jets’ No. 19 jersey and helped them reach the 1998 AFC Championship Game. He was traded to Tampa Bay in 2000 for two first-round picks a few months after Woody Johnson bought the Jets. But Johnson’s Jets career started with such promise and hope for better days.

He was a star at USC, a can’t-miss prospect, who caught 148 passes for 2,358 yards and 12 touchdowns in two college seasons. The Jets had no doubt that Johnson would help turn around the franchise. He is the last receiver to be taken first overall in the NFL Draft.

Dick Haley, the former Jets director of player personnel, relayed a story following the draft of being in a room that included nine scouts who watched film of every pass thrown to Johnson at USC and they all agreed on one thing.

“Each guy thought this was as good a wide receiver as they’ve seen coming out of college,” Haley said 30 years ago.

Ex-Jets coach Rich Kotite said at the time, “The whole country knows what type of player he is. He certainly will bring a lot to the Jets. He’s a big-play impact player.”

Johnson was certain that he would be the first pick even after he instructed his agent the night before the draft to tell the Jets not to take him. According to Johnson, the two sides were engaged in contract talks, but he didn’t like the figures the Jets were offering.

“I just remember telling my agent, I'd rather go Number Two to the Jacksonville Jaguars and get what I was supposed to get at Number Two rather than go Number One overall and get [expletive] by the Jets and be paid like I'm the eighth pick of the draft,” Johnson said. “That's what they were trying to do, so I basically told him to tell them don’t draft me.”

The Jets didn’t waver, though.

In a draft that included future Hall of Famers Jonathan Ogden, Ray Lewis, Marvin Harrison, Terrell Owens, Zach Thomas and Brian Dawkins, the Jets wasted little time in sending in the pick when they were on the clock.

“I was happy that they drafted me,” Johnson said. “I wasn't surprised they drafted me at all. I knew they were going to draft me because who else were they going to draft?”

Kotite said after the draft, “He’s been looking forward to coming to New York for months and months. I just feel he loves being in an area that has great coverage and tremendous fan support. He’s made the difference before, and he wants to make a difference now.”

Johnson held out of training camp over a contract dispute. He ultimately signed a six-year, $15 million deal and joined the Jets in early August. As a rookie, Johnson caught 63 passes for 864 yards and a team-leading eight touchdowns, but it was a terrible season overall.

The Jets went 1-15, the worst record in franchise history. Kotite was fired and replaced by Bill Parcells. Johnson penned a book entitled “Just Give Me the Damn Ball,” in which he chronicled that first season and was famously critical of the team and some teammates.

Things turned around under Parcells. The Jets went .500 or better in Johnson’s last three years with the team and he became the focal point of the offense while playing with five different starting quarterbacks.

Johnson led the Jets in catches, yards and receiving touchdowns all three years and made two Pro Bowls. In 1999, he had 89 catches and 1,170 receiving yards. They ranked second and seventh, respectively, in franchise history at the time and both are still in the top nine.

Now 53 years old, Johnson hasn’t lost the confidence or brashness he was known for as a player.

“I'm the best receiver that’s ever played there, period. It's not even a question,” Johnson said. “I don't give an [expletive] what nobody says. I'm the best receiver that’s ever played there. They’re still trying to replace me. I've been gone damn-near 30 years and they still trying to replace me.”

He conceded the Jets currently have “a nice one in Garrett Wilson.” But Johnson said the Jets drafted him because they were getting more than “just a guy who caught balls. You got a face. You got a lot. And a lot that came with that.”

After the Jets traded him, Johnson played seven more seasons with Tampa Bay, Dallas and Carolina. He only made one more Pro Bowl, but he won a Super Bowl in his third season with the Buccaneers.

Johnson “absolutely” wishes he could have done that with the Jets.

“I regret it didn't happen,” he said.

Johnson said of all the teams he played for the Jets' fan base still shows him the most love.

“My mission was to help them get back — they never were relevant — but make them relevant,” Johnson said. “Once we got Parcells, then I knew, ‘Oh yeah, we're getting ready to rock now.’ And we rocked for a couple years and then guys got hurt.

“When I got to the Jets, they were [3-13], and when I left the Jets, we were a team above .500, and we were a team that was kicking [butt] and taking names. I just know they’re still trying to replace 19.”