|High School Harry| Posted November 6, 2020 Report Share Posted November 6, 2020 https://www.bengals.com/news/bengals-mourn-passing-of-the-essex-express Right after he said, "Oh no," when he heard that No. 19 had passed, Ken Anderson couldn't help but think of two passes he threw to Essex Johnson 47 years ago on one of those gorgeous greenhouse Sundays in San Diego they both helped grow the pro passing game into the 21st century. Same play. Thanks to the "Essex Express," Anderson wonders if the two throws on 86 Half Back Curls went even 10 yards through the air on two touchdowns that Johnson took 78 and 38 yards past a flustered linebacker long before those network match-up telestrators. "I got about 120 yards passing," said Anderson Wednesday, the Bengals all-time passing leader as he recalled how Johnson helped get him there. "When you think of the great Bengals running backs and No. 19 was one of them. A tough, stocky guy that could run." The 5-9, 201-pound Johnson, one of the club's original draft picks who became a keystone of Paul Brown's cutting-edge AFC Central champ Baby Bengals, died last week at 74 and left a legacy you can see whenever Bengals running back Giovani Bernard catches a ball out of the backfield or lines up in the slot. And it's just not at Paul Brown Stadium these days. Switch the channel and check out Christian McCaffrey, the Panthers' dual 1,000-yard running back. "Fast as hell. He could go from zero to eighty in three full steps," said Bengals Radio Network analyst Dave Lapham, who didn't block for Johnson until his seventh and eighth seasons that were post-knee injury. "I'm not saying he was McCaffrey, but a much earlier version of a back that could catch coming out of the backfield … He could have played slot receiver. He had that kind of talent." Just check out the quotes after the Bengals finished off the Chargers, 20-13, on Sept. 30, 1973, led by Johnson catching those two touchdowns for 116 yards and rushing for 121 more on 21 carries with his low-slung running style skimming the sod. "He's the second best runner in football," said Deacon Jones, the Chargers' future Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end. "I'd say O.J. is the best, but he's a tough kid .We really laid some leather to him, but he kept on plugging." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I_C_Deadpeople Posted November 6, 2020 Report Share Posted November 6, 2020 One of the coolest names out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
|High School Harry| Posted November 6, 2020 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2020 2 hours ago, I_C_Deadpeople said: One of the coolest names out there One of the coolest players, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sea Ray Posted November 6, 2020 Report Share Posted November 6, 2020 He would have had a longer career with today's medicine. His knee issues ended it early Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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