Page 8 - Summer 2021

Generations
Gridiron
Household of athletes value faith and family
Story by Jeff Hood Photos by Michael Prochaska
on the
Brad Johnson has membership in an elite group of 33 who won the Super Bowl as a starting quarterback. But the 52-year-old Oconee County resident doesn’t wear that distinction on his sleeve. Instead, his humble life consists of helping young quarterbacks polish their skills, volunteering in the community and raising two children with his wife, Nikki.
“Do I consider myself a celebrity? Well, no,” said a grinning Johnson, who engineered the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a 48-21 victory over the Oakland Raiders during Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003. “I was just fortunate enough to have great coaches, be around great players and play for some really good teams.”
Just as the curtain dropped on his four-year career at Florida State University in 1991 and while eyeing a professional career in the National Football League, Johnson’s quarterback coach at FSU, Mark Richt, set him up on a blind date with his sister.
Nikki Richt played volleyball at the University of South Florida in Tampa. Mark, who would go on to become the football coach at the University of Georgia in 2001, and his wife, Katharyn, had a hunch Brad and Nikki’s common interest in athletics might spark a romance.
“Brad and I played tennis, and we went bowling back then,” Nikki recalled. “But at the time, I was getting involved with my school and graduate work. And Brad was getting into the NFL. So, the timing wasn’t great.”
The two wound up going their separate ways to focus on life after college. But Nikki’s brother and sister-in-law’s persistence paid off six years later when they urged them to reunite and go on another date.
“Mark and Katharyn did it again in 1997, and we’ve been together ever since,” Nikki proclaimed.
At the time, Brad was the starting quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings but lived in Tallahassee, Florida, during the off-season.
Nikki grew up in a football family and understood the fast pace and potential dangers of the game, most-notably at the collegiate and professional level.
“It is a bit nerve-racking and stressful when your husband is out there and gets sacked,” she admitted. “But there were so many great moments. The highs are highs, and the lows are lows. You just have to keep things in perspective.”
Jake, left, and Max, right, said their father molded them into the players they are today.
sJeff Hood oversees the Zaxby’s gift card program and is a high school football official. PAgE 6 | OcONEE ThE MAgAzINE | SUMMER 2021