Bill Johnson

Who was Bill Johnson?

William Levi Johnson, Sr., known as Bill "Tiger" Johnson, was a professional football player and coach. He was born in Tyler, Texas, where he was raised by his single mother and five older siblings. Among his siblings was older brother Gilbert Johnson, who played quarterback at Southern Methodist University with the iconic running back Doak Walker. Bill was a legendary football and baseball star for Tyler Junior College and Texas A&M University, and graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University. He played center for the San Francisco 49ers from 1948 to 1956.

Although Johnson is known mostly for his accomplishments as a football player in the National Football League, Tiger had a prolific career in college as well, not only in football, but also baseball. Bill began his college football career at Tyler Junior College, a small school in Johnson's hometown of Tyler, Texas. Bill finished his collegiate career with Texas A&M University. The end of his college sports career brought about a pressing issue; was Johnson to pursue a professional career in the MLB with the Cincinnati Reds, who had offered him a minor-league contract, or test his football ability in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, who offered Bill with a non-drafted rookie free agent contract. Bill decided to go with football, even though his true love was baseball. He was a phenomenal catcher at the collegiate level, but always stated that he would have never made it in "the bigs" due to a lack of ability in throwing out base runners when they would attempt to steal.