Speaker 1: This is the OTP presented by Farm Bureau Health Plans.
Speaker 1: Plan on paying less for the coverage you need with
Speaker 1: Farm Bureau Health Plans. Get a quote today at FBHP
Speaker 1: dot com. I Mike Keith and excited to talk with
Speaker 1: someone who, when I was a young man starting to
Speaker 1: follow the NFL, was a player that we were always
Speaker 1: excited to see, a player that we looked up to.
Speaker 1: Billy White Shoes Johnson joins me on the OTP. Sir,
Speaker 1: it is a pleasure to have you here. Thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you. It's good to be here and good
Speaker 2: to be seeing these days.
Speaker 1: All right, So I have to ask this question. Do
Speaker 1: you ever wear anything other than white shoes?
Speaker 2: No, I don't. Earlier on I might have, but after
Speaker 2: second or third yeah, I don't think I have.
Speaker 1: But in your like in your wardrobe, do.
Speaker 2: You know when your white shoes Johnson, you have to
Speaker 2: wear white shoes, right, exactly? Exactly. I mean, people look
Speaker 2: at you like you got two heads if I don't
Speaker 2: have white shoes, and then they get to the point
Speaker 2: where you know, sometimes you can have a little bit
Speaker 2: of blue in the back of the shoe. That's not
Speaker 2: an all white shoes. I said, man, I can't win.
Speaker 2: But yeah, it's only white shoes.
Speaker 1: So how did you become white shoes? Johnson?
Speaker 2: I was the president of the Pat Boom Club. We
Speaker 2: were white bucks. I'm lying.
Speaker 1: I know about the white that's good.
Speaker 2: I started just to be different in high school because
Speaker 2: that's at that time everybody was wearing black shoes, and
Speaker 2: its kind of redundant to me, and I just want
Speaker 2: to do a little flash. So we were sitting on
Speaker 2: our front porch. I guess one day a good friend
Speaker 2: of ours came up to me while I was out there.
Speaker 2: I'm young and impressionable. He asked me, if you think
Speaker 2: you're so good, why don't you wear white shoes like
Speaker 2: Joe Willie.
Speaker 1: Name it well, because he was the guy.
Speaker 2: He was the guy who were those.
Speaker 1: White spot builts were so sweet.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were nice. And see what I did when
Speaker 2: I got my shoes. Finally I had Kangaroo. Remember the
Speaker 2: kangaroo was a little bit best step up from spot built,
Speaker 2: but we were able to get some and I took
Speaker 2: him to a nice little cobbler who dyed those shoes.
Speaker 2: I mean he stripped the shoe and then he died
Speaker 2: and die on it and he taught me how to
Speaker 2: do it. So my senior year was my junior year.
Speaker 2: My senior year, he did two pairs and I did
Speaker 2: one pair, but he and he did that, and so
Speaker 2: what happened. We went to a game and we played
Speaker 2: the best defense in our county and I had a
Speaker 2: good game. And it was a homecoming game. So they
Speaker 2: says blazon Billy white shoes something something the crowd on
Speaker 2: mothers on the parents' Day, which was a big headline.
Speaker 2: And I thought it was hoky at that time on
Speaker 2: white shoes and ever since then and ever since that game,
Speaker 2: but I had that good game and theyd me call
Speaker 2: me white shoes. Now. My coach didn't care too much
Speaker 2: for it.
Speaker 1: At first because it was too showy.
Speaker 2: Too showy, and he's the kind of guy, no frills,
Speaker 2: no thrill, right, But when I went to training camp
Speaker 2: and I wore them one day and he came after
Speaker 2: a second, third or fourth day, two days and we're
Speaker 2: going to have a scrimmage. She said, what's up with
Speaker 2: the shoes? And for no better reason, I said, and
Speaker 2: they make me run faster. And he didn't say a word,
Speaker 2: He just so, okay, lot of I said, So we
Speaker 2: had a scrimmage and I had a good game. He
Speaker 2: never said another word about the shoes, and I'm so
Speaker 2: thankful that he allowed me to wear them because and
Speaker 2: you feel good about it, because you know, if you
Speaker 2: look good, you feel good. That old saying it's true.
Speaker 2: Even in high school. I knew that. I said, man,
Speaker 2: just give me a little bit more confidence. It's just
Speaker 2: my adulgrum zone. It was something that was different, and
Speaker 2: you had to play because you're seeing you're the guy
Speaker 2: out there who's show who's wearing white shoes, and of
Speaker 2: course they're going to want to stop the wark man,
Speaker 2: you know, a guy who they might think might be
Speaker 2: a hot dog. So it made you play harder, train
Speaker 2: harder so you wouldn't be embarrassed.
Speaker 1: It took guts in the late sixties and early seventies
Speaker 1: that was not done.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, you had to have a little bit of talent,
Speaker 2: I guess to do that. And our team was talented
Speaker 2: to the point we didn't window state championship, but we
Speaker 2: played well.
Speaker 1: But you go to Wider College which is now Wider University, correct,
Speaker 1: and it had been a military school before before you
Speaker 1: got there. So how did how were you able to
Speaker 1: keep wearing the white shoes there PMC.
Speaker 2: Well, at that time they started being a little they
Speaker 2: relinquished that strict dressing command. But at that time coach
Speaker 2: Bill Manluf, which changed the whole history of PMC Widener.
Speaker 2: He was there and he didn't mind. And it was
Speaker 2: just as long as you could play and showed toughness,
Speaker 2: that's all that mattered. And you know you could follow
Speaker 2: the rules because like I said, I started when it
Speaker 2: was PMC and I graduated when it was Widener. So
Speaker 2: on my diploma it has PMC Widener and which is
Speaker 2: good because coach Manluff made all difference from me in
Speaker 2: the world. I was kind of ragged, ignotia, you know,
Speaker 2: take challenges, a little cocky. I wouldn't I'm never arrogant,
Speaker 2: but just I like taking challenges, and uh, he was
Speaker 2: able to. He's such a good person. He was like
Speaker 2: my dad. He talks something, you do something wrong, and
Speaker 2: you know you want to hear from me, you say,
Speaker 2: oh shoot, a disappointed coach. That's for me. He was
Speaker 2: that kind of coach for me. And we're still a
Speaker 2: good best of friends now. And I talked to he
Speaker 2: and missus man Love Edna let me stay in touch.
Speaker 2: But he was that kind of coach was really good
Speaker 2: for me. He to me, he's exemplified what it was
Speaker 2: like to be a coach.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: He could be tough on you, but he was fair
Speaker 2: and he had a lot of respect from a lot,
Speaker 2: not on me, but from a lot of guys on
Speaker 2: the team. And he was just like that father father figure.
Speaker 2: And I had a strong father. But I can only
Speaker 2: imagine if I did something wrong with him. You know,
Speaker 2: he handled a different way coach man up, a little
Speaker 2: bit more mild mannered, but no, he was I had
Speaker 2: so much, the utmost respect for him.
Speaker 1: The Oilers drafted you in the fifteenth round in nineteen
Speaker 1: seventy four. Do you know the story of how they
Speaker 1: found you? Do you were? Were you made aware of
Speaker 1: that later on in life.
Speaker 2: I think it was Bruce Kebrick who was on a
Speaker 2: scouting trip. He was up near Temple, and if I'm
Speaker 2: not mistaken, he said, well, let me go u By.
Speaker 2: I see this guy because our team, my offensive line
Speaker 2: was pretty good at that time. I mean, I think
Speaker 2: they put anybody behind that line and they were done well.
Speaker 2: And he heard about me, came out and I guess
Speaker 2: they ran me through the forty and came out on
Speaker 2: the field to see me do some things on the field,
Speaker 2: and he said, hey, I like this guy. Now that's
Speaker 2: what was told to me. So I'm not sure, but
Speaker 2: it was because of Bruce Kebrick that I am an oiler.
Speaker 1: Well, I mean, let's face it, Widener is more famous
Speaker 1: for being the school that director says, b.
Speaker 2: Yes, so Humphrey bogo. I don't forget that.
Speaker 1: A lot of politicians and lawyers and big time people
Speaker 1: have gone there bets to find you in the fifteenth
Speaker 1: round and then to bring you in and for you
Speaker 1: to make the team. How does a fifteenth round pick
Speaker 1: make a football team?
Speaker 2: I think I was blessed. I was truly blessed by
Speaker 2: God because you're a fifteenth round draft choice. You're a
Speaker 2: small guy from a small school. You know. It's just
Speaker 2: the timing was right, and that timing was from the
Speaker 2: Lord himself. So I take no credits for making it
Speaker 2: other than being the right place the right time and
Speaker 2: the Lord putting me there.
Speaker 1: And punt returning and kick returning. That was the way in.
Speaker 2: That was the way in. I just wanted to get
Speaker 2: a chance to get the ball anyway I could to
Speaker 2: prove that I could play with the guys who were
Speaker 2: let's face, went to bigger schools, had more media attention
Speaker 2: than myself. Well, I can play just as good as
Speaker 2: them if given the opportunity, and lo and behold, I
Speaker 2: was given that opportunity.
Speaker 1: Where did the dance come from? And when did it
Speaker 1: first happen? I know, I know the dance itself was
Speaker 1: the Funky Chicken?
Speaker 2: Yeah yeah, But where did.
Speaker 1: It come from in your mind to do that? And
Speaker 1: where did you first do it?
Speaker 2: I first did it? I was you know, at that
Speaker 2: time college we were playing a rival team of ours
Speaker 2: and they were a little hoake, they got a little
Speaker 2: above themselves, you know, and me being always in the
Speaker 2: entertainment call at that time, I would be hosting my
Speaker 2: club acts and stuff like that. So I yeah, I
Speaker 2: had a chance to host Rufus Thomas who made the
Speaker 2: funky who made the do the funky Chicken? And I'm
Speaker 2: telling you another lie, So I shouldn't do that. I promised,
Speaker 2: no more, no more storytelling.
Speaker 1: I did that.
Speaker 2: I could have happened, yeah, yeah, you're right, Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: what happened. In the court of blows. It could have happened.
Speaker 2: I would have never You're right, because it's almost like
Speaker 2: the truth, you know, but no, what happened, this is true.
Speaker 2: We were playing a rival ball club of hours and
Speaker 2: they said some things, which was bulletin board material. And
Speaker 2: we were sitting in the I think, in the locker
Speaker 2: room joking and you know, how guys are you push one?
Speaker 2: Everybody pushing me envelope, And I said, I'll tell you what.
Speaker 2: If I were to score, I'm want to dance and
Speaker 2: I did something and he said, man, you ain't going
Speaker 2: to do it? I said, man, I am. I really had.
Speaker 2: I had no real intentions of doing it, but when
Speaker 2: I scored, I had to do something because you know,
Speaker 2: you can't live it down. You had been a plug
Speaker 2: if you had done it at that time and said
Speaker 2: you're going to do something, didn't do it. So I
Speaker 2: scored a couple of times, I danced a couple of times,
Speaker 2: and I kept my under the bargain. That's how I
Speaker 2: looked at it. But it just so happened because we
Speaker 2: had a lot of fun with it. We weren't trying
Speaker 2: to be a derogatorory in any way, trying to rub
Speaker 2: their noses in it. We were just having fun it
Speaker 2: was part of what we did.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned your coach, would that you be you?
Speaker 2: He would let me be. And that's what I really liked.
Speaker 2: That's what I really liked. He didn't say anything. There's
Speaker 2: one time though, he did say, I was really upset
Speaker 2: at that we were playing the team. I'm not going
Speaker 2: to mention their names, and they were playing a little
Speaker 2: dirty because they wanted to get me, you know, and
Speaker 2: I understand you're a mark man, but I got a
Speaker 2: little upset. So I broke into the open the field
Speaker 2: and I sat down and I started slowing down and
Speaker 2: I pointed at it, which is hot dogish and I'm
Speaker 2: really not that player. And he said, why don't you
Speaker 2: do that? Not in the over animated voice or anything
Speaker 2: like that. He said, that's not you. He says, you know,
Speaker 2: don't do that. He says, that's how you get hurt.
Speaker 2: You set yourself up to get hurt. He said, but
Speaker 2: you're a better person, the better person than that. Be
Speaker 2: above that. And I felt about this big. I felt
Speaker 2: about one inch tall because he was told the truth
Speaker 2: and I knew better, but I just wanted to get
Speaker 2: my point of revenge. I said, what they did to me,
Speaker 2: you know, trying to poke me in the eye, and
Speaker 2: you know it's playing a little bit dirty, and they
Speaker 2: normally wouldn't. But after that, no problems.
Speaker 1: Did you know you were going to do that when
Speaker 1: you got the end zoned when you were with the Oilers,
Speaker 1: or did it just happen?
Speaker 2: It just how I promise you It just happened. Because
Speaker 2: it happened. And I beat the Steelers, I said, you
Speaker 2: didn't went and won the Super Bowl seventy four. We
Speaker 2: had beat the Steelers. I had scored on the end
Speaker 2: around and Mike Wagner was the last time I had
Speaker 2: to run past.
Speaker 1: Number twenty three.
Speaker 2: Yes, yes, sir, yes sir. And I went in there
Speaker 2: and I automatically did it, and I said, oh shucks.
Speaker 2: I said, here, I am up here on a big
Speaker 2: stage and the professional ranks, and I'm being a hot dog.
Speaker 2: But I wasn't. I went over and I asked him,
Speaker 2: I'm about that. He said, that's what it takes. I
Speaker 2: like to see more of it. I wasn't going to
Speaker 2: go see, said Gilman. At that time he was a
Speaker 2: head coach. He probably could care less. Because I got
Speaker 2: in the end zone and mom just said, hey, that's
Speaker 2: what it takes so be it, you know, And that's
Speaker 2: what happened. I really didn't and then a couple other
Speaker 2: times said I'm not going to dance again, and it
Speaker 2: just happened. And later on they said, man, we like
Speaker 2: that dance. We want to see you do it more.
Speaker 2: And so anytime I would score after that, I would
Speaker 2: I would dance. I used to get phone calls on
Speaker 2: the road. Hopefully our team wins, but we want to
Speaker 2: see you do the dance. I mean, I don't know
Speaker 2: how they got my number at the hotel to call
Speaker 2: and or say leave a message or it was fun
Speaker 2: and it was fun. I just you know, in the
Speaker 2: NFL was fun. I never ever try to humiliate another opponent.
Speaker 2: They can't say that I did you look at any tape?
Speaker 2: I always went to the end zone, corner of the
Speaker 2: end zone the dance.
Speaker 1: When did you know that it was something very different
Speaker 1: and that people really loved it?
Speaker 2: Wow, that's probably about the third time I did it,
Speaker 2: and they said, man, we want to see that dance
Speaker 2: today next game. I said, Wow, maybe something is good.
Speaker 2: And it's even though you know, you get pumped up
Speaker 2: more and you work harder because you're an entertainer. I mean,
Speaker 2: we are entertainment, but I just it was just fun.
Speaker 2: I mean I did it in the college all that time,
Speaker 2: and the same at that time when I was in
Speaker 2: college that people wanted to come to the game to
Speaker 2: see what he would do next. That's what it was.
Speaker 2: But I you know, like I say, it was all
Speaker 2: part of getting our guys pumped up because they wanted
Speaker 2: to see it. They had to hand it. Allowed me
Speaker 2: to be successful, to get into the end zone, be
Speaker 2: it a pump return, a kickoff return pass, or end
Speaker 2: around or anything from scrimmish. They knew they had to
Speaker 2: handle it and that was the celebration, not only for me,
Speaker 2: but for the team.
Speaker 1: More of the conversation with Billy White Shoes Johnson on
Speaker 1: the OTP continues. But first we have to remind you
Speaker 1: it's always game on with Duncan. So grab a coffee
Speaker 1: and kick off the action. Whether that's drinking a cup
Speaker 1: of coffee on your way to the game or grabbing
Speaker 1: one to go before watching the game at home, Duncan
Speaker 1: is always there to help you get your game on.
Speaker 1: Just like the pros. We need to be at our
Speaker 1: best come game time, which is why Duncan is the
Speaker 1: most important part of your game day ritual because it's
Speaker 1: always the best call for football America runs on Duncan.
Speaker 1: But those Oilers teams you were on too. I mean
Speaker 1: bum Films was a character, how he dressed and everything.
Speaker 1: There were other characters on the team. Earl Campbell certainly
Speaker 1: became a mythical figure. And so you were part of
Speaker 1: something Love You Blue, where the Houston Oilers all of
Speaker 1: the things that were with it challenging the Steelers for
Speaker 1: the first time. Yes, in that era, it was a thing,
Speaker 1: and you were a part of that thing that NFL
Speaker 1: films would seemingly show every single week.
Speaker 2: I think it's because there was an oddity at that
Speaker 2: time when Bumble of this cowboy had and the players
Speaker 2: are no name defense at that time. When you look
Speaker 2: at I mean other than Curly, who else would you say?
Speaker 2: Maybe Al but thank because he'd been in all those years.
Speaker 2: We got Robert Brazil on the defense and doctor dou Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then you had uh Kenny Brow double oh, you know,
Speaker 2: double oh. I remember John was Sindy talking about that.
Speaker 2: So we had the big names like that. But you
Speaker 2: know who would have said, yeah, that's good down there.
Speaker 2: But when we got on the national stage and played
Speaker 2: the Steelers tough and uh, of course they beat us
Speaker 2: twice to get to the super Bowl, but it was
Speaker 2: fun and see and you can tell a lot of
Speaker 2: draft choices, I should say draft choices, a lot of
Speaker 2: free agents made that team made it up at that
Speaker 2: time to to make it what it was. So when
Speaker 2: you were a hard working guy and we're all after
Speaker 2: the same thing, you know, some of us didn't get
Speaker 2: a chance to uh rifully sow, but we got we
Speaker 2: got that second chance, and we wanted to make do
Speaker 2: uh make well with it. So that's why we were
Speaker 2: so close, I think. And we enjoyed each other. We
Speaker 2: enjoyed being around each other, especially when they started the
Speaker 2: city started getting behind this boy, and if all we
Speaker 2: had and then we got it all. Oh wow, we
Speaker 2: will offer Runny for sure.
Speaker 1: That Billy white shoes, Johnson, the white shoes and the
Speaker 1: end zone dance may have made you famous, but the
Speaker 1: fact of the matter is nineteen seventy five is one
Speaker 1: of the greatest years for a returner in NFL history.
Speaker 1: You're considered the greatest punt returner in NFL history. The
Speaker 1: seventy fifth Anniversary team named you as their punt returner.
Speaker 1: The one hundredth anniversary team in twenty eighteen named you
Speaker 1: as the punt returner. So there was quite a bit
Speaker 1: of substance behind what you did, more so than just
Speaker 1: the flash. And as your career went on, especially when
Speaker 1: you went to Atlanta later, you got a chance more
Speaker 1: as a receiver. I mean, your career was incredibly accomplished
Speaker 1: outside of just the fun part of it, and that
Speaker 1: has to be special in your heart too.
Speaker 2: It is. I've found a coach down there who knew
Speaker 2: I could play inside. He enhanced my career the second
Speaker 2: part of my career with the Falcons. But I'll say this,
Speaker 2: it's the guys along the way that made it possible
Speaker 2: for me. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention some
Speaker 2: of them. Guys made it happen for me. You know,
Speaker 2: you look at you got your names on defense and
Speaker 2: are starting defense. Would be out there on punt returns,
Speaker 2: you know, then you got to kick off returns. Some
Speaker 2: of our offensive lineman be out there, starting offensive lineman
Speaker 2: to be out there. So it was gratifying to see
Speaker 2: these guys believed in me to, you know, to do
Speaker 2: the best I can do. And I believe in them.
Speaker 2: You look at for instance, Eddie Fish or Andy Dorris,
Speaker 2: Ronnie comb Is, cl Whittington, Al Johnson, these guys who
Speaker 2: made it happen for me offensively and defensively, and they
Speaker 2: contributed as much to my success as I did. And
Speaker 2: that's I think that's that's why, because we all wanted,
Speaker 2: we were all on the same page. Let's get into
Speaker 2: the end zone, let's let's win. And then with mom
Speaker 2: his style of coaching only amplified it more so.
Speaker 1: Well because him coming from the Bear Bryant Tree. Yes,
Speaker 1: he believed in special teams dramatically. He was from that school.
Speaker 1: That you can change field position sounds much like Mike
Speaker 1: Rabel right now, change field position, you start every possession
Speaker 1: with the first down, you can, you can pick up
Speaker 1: a score, all of those sorts of things factoring in.
Speaker 1: And then when you have a guy and we sat
Speaker 1: with Chris Johnson in two thousand and nine, we saw
Speaker 1: it with Derrick Henry in twenty twenty, when the team
Speaker 1: starts to believe the person with the ball can hit
Speaker 1: a home run.
Speaker 2: They try, yeah, that's true, and that's true. And me
Speaker 2: knowing that I'm going to have the wall, my hand.
Speaker 2: They're expecting what I'm doing. So I got to make
Speaker 2: sure I produce for them because they made some blocks.
Speaker 2: I mean, you see on several I guess films of
Speaker 2: us returning the bowl, Robert Brazil making two blocks, Whittington,
Speaker 2: Ronnie Coleman making two or three blocks. I'll never forget
Speaker 2: about three weeks back to back, Ronnie c I forget
Speaker 2: somebody else. They had knocked guys out of the game
Speaker 2: on special things, and they did it fairly. They could
Speaker 2: have probably gotten away with it today by today's stands,
Speaker 2: I'm hitting people. But the angles that they were taking
Speaker 2: and the way that they were protecting me, golly day.
Speaker 2: So I had to I had to produce because those
Speaker 2: guys put on the line like that for me and
Speaker 2: kickoff returns, gee whiz is the same thing. I mean,
Speaker 2: we had starting guys out there on the special teams
Speaker 2: and it's special. Uh. That's why I liked My mom
Speaker 2: never gave me no directions of Okay, we've got to return, right,
Speaker 2: but you go with what you see. Always, hey, handle
Speaker 2: the ball, you know, you're never supposed to handle the
Speaker 2: ball inside the tenure outline. I did that on several occasions,
Speaker 2: not longer. Is that because he said, just get it.
Speaker 2: If you feel you can get it, go with it.
Speaker 1: What makes a great punt.
Speaker 2: Returner, great judgment and right away with field presence of
Speaker 2: catching the ball, knowing where you are on the field,
Speaker 2: getting there quick, setting up like a baseball player, you know,
Speaker 2: as if he's getting ready to throw the ball. But
Speaker 2: once you get it, just such an instincts take over.
Speaker 2: You know we're supposed to go, which you're supposed but
Speaker 2: you don't know. You just got to go with the
Speaker 2: flow of you know that, which is intrinsic to happen.
Speaker 2: And if you buy you do that. Shoot, that's what
Speaker 2: this And I would say I'll try some of them saying, see,
Speaker 2: you know, set up quick, take the first step to
Speaker 2: freeze them, then go with what you know.
Speaker 1: It's Devin Hester, the greatest overall returner of all time.
Speaker 2: Wow, it's one of the biggest I've seen. Physically.
Speaker 1: He is a good sized guy.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I said, no, wonder it's tough to him.
Speaker 2: And see he's what he knows. He got speed and
Speaker 2: he can do it. But you've got guys like Gale
Speaker 2: Sayers and you know, Rick up Church, and I'll tell
Speaker 2: you in our conference you had Greg prud there's a
Speaker 2: lot to be said about that. He uh, he's got
Speaker 2: some contention there.
Speaker 1: But the guys you're talking about weren't specialists. No, Rick
Speaker 1: up Church played wide receiver. Greg Prue was a great
Speaker 1: running back.
Speaker 2: And go back to Eton. Yes, I mean, so who's
Speaker 2: to say. I mean, that's been mentioned in that company.
Speaker 2: I feel good because all those guys were they made
Speaker 2: a difference in the game, but.
Speaker 1: They're not the greatest punt returner. On the seventy fifth
Speaker 1: anniversary or the one hundredth anniversary.
Speaker 2: People see it differently. You you ain't trapping me.
Speaker 1: No, I'm not. I'm not trapping I'm bragging on you
Speaker 1: because I mean to think about the people who voted
Speaker 1: on that, and the amount of football that's been played,
Speaker 1: and the way the kicking game has evolved in different ways.
Speaker 1: I mean, wow, I mean to be called not just
Speaker 1: the first time around, you know, twenty five years in
Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, but at twenty eighteen, to be called again,
Speaker 1: that's phenomenal. What is that what you're most proud of? Wow?
Speaker 1: I don't as a football player.
Speaker 2: Gosh, probably, but there's a lot of other games that
Speaker 2: I think a lot of the things, you know, like
Speaker 2: when you talk about put returns, you really talk about
Speaker 2: especially in this era after me. You look at Devin Hester,
Speaker 2: you look at the Sanders, and a couple of guys
Speaker 2: came behind them. They're good. But I think most of
Speaker 2: you you'll see that the other like being on he
Speaker 2: played a position, sure did. Most of us played a
Speaker 2: position really and contributed, contributed in an actor in a
Speaker 2: big way. Then you have something who just can't get
Speaker 2: on the field, though they can do is punt and
Speaker 2: kick off returna which is no slap in their face
Speaker 2: to me. I mean, if you can catch punts and
Speaker 2: I think about it and get it done, you where
Speaker 2: you supposed to be. And that's why I say, I
Speaker 2: hope they never take the returning game out of the
Speaker 2: league altogether. And that's the exciting part of the football
Speaker 2: game to me, the change of position. And when you
Speaker 2: look at guys like that, I, like I said, I
Speaker 2: feel happy to be mentioned like that and to be selected.
Speaker 2: But there's a lot more out there.
Speaker 1: But you think about the fabric of the NFL, and
Speaker 1: everybody knows who you are because you're nicknamed. The story
Speaker 1: of the end Zone dance, which is part of the
Speaker 1: celebration which makes the NFL the number one sport in
Speaker 1: America because it's not just a game, it's a show
Speaker 1: and people love following every part of the show. And
Speaker 1: the celebration is fine. When I started playing football, we
Speaker 1: did the Billy White Shoes Johnson dance, Date me, well
Speaker 1: but dating me. But the whole thing was, they can't
Speaker 1: tell the story of this league without you, and I
Speaker 1: mean that's I mean, and you've done a lot more.
Speaker 1: I mean, you were in the league fifteen years, You
Speaker 1: had to go to Canada to work your way back
Speaker 1: from an injury and to show that you could still
Speaker 1: do it, and then you were with the Falcons for
Speaker 1: fifteen years doing their director of player development, And I mean,
Speaker 1: you've had a remarkable career in and outside of football.
Speaker 1: But I mean, this has got to be for a
Speaker 1: guy who played at Widener, and it's got to be
Speaker 1: a little mind numbing, right it is.
Speaker 2: I overwhelmed when when it is overwhelming to a point
Speaker 2: when Amy Uh, they gave me the news that they
Speaker 2: were going to put me to the Ring of Honor. Boy,
Speaker 2: I mean, I was speechless and overwhelmed because that takes
Speaker 2: a lot for a team to sit down there and
Speaker 2: decide who would go into the ring of honor. And
Speaker 2: I'm looking at the guys that I'm following, are Old Campbell,
Speaker 2: Robert Brazil, uh, Frank Wai checking all these guys. It's
Speaker 2: that's tall. You know, you're in big company, big time company. Uh.
Speaker 2: And you know, I just felt blessed and fortunate that
Speaker 2: I came along when I came along and played for
Speaker 2: the right people. Uh. And I just I just have
Speaker 2: been so fortunate. It's been a great walk for me,
Speaker 2: a great run, and I have no regrets I do
Speaker 2: it again. It's just like I say, you know, from
Speaker 2: the very beginning when I've called Alan to honor the
Speaker 2: strike at that time, and he asked me what around
Speaker 2: was I drafted and the fifteenth he said, no, come
Speaker 2: on in. Every since I called him that day, God
Speaker 2: at his hand on me saying, Okay, we're gonna because
Speaker 2: I don't want they want to be a strike break
Speaker 2: or a sky and Elma just said, hey, I guess
Speaker 2: he thought I wasn't going to make the team be
Speaker 2: in a fifteenth round drive show, so he said, yeah,
Speaker 2: come on in. And then when he met me, I'll
Speaker 2: never never forget. Oh you had a little piss and
Speaker 2: who called me about coming to camp? He says, Man,
Speaker 2: if I know how big you are, i'd have told you, no,
Speaker 2: don't come at all. But it was so funny, and
Speaker 2: I'd said yeah. He said, well, I'm glad you did it.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you made things worked out for you. But
Speaker 2: it's yeah, I guess this, this moment of being inducted
Speaker 2: to the Ring of Honor is something I never thought about,
Speaker 2: I never found in any way.
Speaker 1: And Amy Adamstruck made it happen because she's been determined
Speaker 1: to put the whole family together, and for those of
Speaker 1: us here, it's been a beautiful thing to get to
Speaker 1: experience all of it, to see all of this together
Speaker 1: in this way. And like I said, I've known who
Speaker 1: you were for fifty years, and so the excitement of
Speaker 1: getting a chance to meet you and getting a chance
Speaker 1: to see this happen for you. And I think people
Speaker 1: of my age and even younger who know your story,
Speaker 1: they knew immediately when Amy said she wanted to do this,
Speaker 1: like absolutely, he's not already in and so it's you're
Speaker 1: the eighteenth member and it's wonderful.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, and I'm glad and first class all
Speaker 2: the way, first class all the way. So it's like
Speaker 2: I said, it's kind of overwhelming at that time. I mean,
Speaker 2: for me, it is.
Speaker 1: Billy White Choos Johnson, thank you so much for joining
Speaker 1: me on the OTP. Reminder that seat Geek is the
Speaker 1: official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans. Whether you're buying
Speaker 1: or selling tickets to Titans games or to any live
Speaker 1: event in Nashville, seat Geek is the place to do it.
Speaker 1: Seat Geek the new official ticketing partner of the Tennessee Titans,
Speaker 1: so Titans fans can fan for the newest member of
Speaker 1: the Oilers Titans Ring of Honor, Billy White Shoes Johnson,
Speaker 1: I'm Mike Keith. Thank you you for joining us for
Speaker 1: the O Seeds