Guys who rush for 2,000 yards in an NFL season don’t normally sneak up on you. But did anyone really see Chris Johnson’s amazing 2009 campaign coming? Certainly not any opponents of the Tennessee Titans. And if they did, they still couldn’t stop him. Chris may not have the classic look or pedigree of a superstar running back, but he has all the qualifications: raw speed, confounding elusiveness and explosive power. Now that his name can rightfully be mentioned in the same sentence as a handful of Hall of Famers, is Chris on the fast track to Canton? If nothing else, Chris has proven that no one should be surprised by anything he does on the football field. This is his story…

GROWING UP

Christopher Duan Johnson was born September 23, 1985 in Orlando, Florida. (Click here for a complete listing of today's sports birthdays.) There is not much information available on his childhood. Chris doesn’t talk much about it, and those who knew him as a boy are closed-lipped as well.

What everyone knows about Chris is that his best friend as a kid was Kenny Turner, or KT as he was called. He and Chris were the two best athletes in the neighborhood. Whatever Chris could do, KT was right there with him. They shared the same backfield on youth league teams and later in high school. Turner went on to star in football at Fullerton College. 

In 2001, Chris enrolled as a sophomore at brand new Olympia High School in southwest Orlando. He immediately set his sights on the varsity football and track teams. The Titans went 1–9 that first season, and coach Mike Cullison feared that Chris and some of the other top players might look to switch schools. But they stuck with it.

Chris first arrived on the radar of college recruiters the following year, when he rushed for more than 1,000 yards as a junor. Along with receiver Maurice Price, he gave the Tians an awesome 1–2 punch on offense. Price went on to lead the nation in receiving in college and became a star in the CFL.

The following spring, Chris truly came into his own as a sprinter. He made the finals in the state 100 meters, finishing an eyelash behind Walter Dix, a future Olympic gold medalist in the event. As a senior, Chris would post the seventh-best time in the nation in the 100 meters and compete as a member of the nation’s fastest prep relay squad. They won both the Golden South and Golden West 4 x 100 national relay championships.

By then, however, Chris was focused primarily on football. While he did not rate among the elite high school backs, he knew that a breakout year would earn him a scholarship to a big-time program. Chris got off to great start buth then fractured his leg and missed more than a month of action. In the games he played, Chris showed enough to garner all-county honors. He recovered in time to participate in the Orange County All-Star Game and won MVP honors.

That was enough to draw offers from three good schools—UConn, Eastern Kentucky and East Carolina. Chris chose ECU, mostly because he was guaranteed a shot at a starting job by coach John Thompson. Other schools liked him better on defense and viewed him as a cornerback. Even when Thompson left ECU, Chris felt secure in his decision. New coach Skip Holtz also saw his vast potential as a runner. 

Chris was an instant contributor to the East Carolina offense. He started seven games as a freshman in 2004 and proved a valuable runner, receiver and return man. His best game came against Tulane, when he scored twice and racked up 158 rushing yards. In all, he amassed over 1,500 all-purpose yards and was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman squad.

Chris’s sophomore year saw him lead the Pirates in rushing. He also became more of a factor in the passing game, with 35 receptions. His highlight play was an 81-yard catch and run against Rice.

Injuries curtailed Chris’s junior year, as he made only five starts. His most valuable contribution came as a kick returner, a job that earned him all-conference honors. A spectacular end-to-end touchdown return against Southern Miss made the cut of ESPN’s top college football plays for 2006.

ON THE RISE

The 2007 season saw Chris make a bushelful of highlight plays, as he became one of the country’s top all-purpose backs. He made headlines in a wild win over Memphis when he topped 300 rushing yards and scored four touchdowns. By the end of the regular season, Chris was the nation’s all-purpose yardage leader with an impressiver 212.7 yards per game.

Powered by Chris and the quarterback tandem of Patrick Pinkney and Rob Kass, ECU earned a berth against Boise State in the Hawaii Bowl, played two days before Christmas. The Pirates were prohibitive underdogs in the game. The Broncos, which had beaten Oklahoma a year earlier in the Fiesta Bowl, had an experienced and potent offense that regularly put up 40 or more points per game. The Pirates, by contrast, gave up over 400 yards per game. They survived these defensive deficiencies by dominating the takeover game, forcing 27 giveaways while coughing the ball up a mere 13 times.

With Chris leading the way, ECU established a 31–14 lead. On the team’s third possession, he exploded for a 68-yard touchdown run. In the second quarter, Chris shocked the Broncos by pulling up and throwing an 18-yard touchdown pass.

In the second half, Boise State clawed its way back and trailed 38–31 with time running out. ECU had the ball with a chance to run out the clock, but Chris lost the handle and Boise State’s Marty Tadman scooped up his fumble and returned it 47 yards for a shocking touchdown. With the score knotted at 38–38, Kass led the Pirates on one last desperate drive. A 39-yard pass got them over midfield, and they advanced the ball to the 17-yard line. Ben Hartman kicked the game-winning field goal as time expired.  

Chris was the most relieved man in the Pacific. His fumble had nearly erased a record-smashing day. He finished with 223 rushing yards, 32 receiving yards and 153 return yards for 408 all-purpose yards—a new NCAA bowl game mark. He was named the contest's MVP. 

Thanks to his eye-opening big performance, Chris got the opportunity to show his stuff in the Senior Bowl a month later. He helped the South win 17–16.

From there it was on to the NFL scouting combine. To no one’s suprise, Chris blew away the field in the 40-yard dash with a time of  4.24 seconds. He was also among the top five running backs in the vertical jump and broad jump. With his stock rising, Chris watched as Darren McFadden, Jonathan Stewart, Felix Jones and Rashard Mendenhall came off the board before him on draft day. Chris was finally selected with the 24th pick in the first round by Tennessee.

Chris was delighted by this turn of events. The Titans had ECU ties. Ernest Byner, Tennessee’s running backs coach, was a legend on campus. And Pro Bowl tight end Alge Crumpler had a brother and father who starred for ECU, too.  

Eli landed himself in hot water after the campaign when he was arrested and briefly jailed for public drunkenness. Truly embarrassed by the incident, the 19-year-old decided to buckle down and focus on school and football.

Expectations were high for Chris after he nailed down a starting backfield job in training camp. The Titans needed an impact runner to compliment Vince Young, whose erratic play was beginning to frustrate coach Jeff Fisher. Tennessee had a good short-yardage back inLenDale White, so Chris’s job was to move the ball between the 20s.

He responded with one of the best starts ever for an NFL career. He was a difference-maker in his first game, a 17–10 victory over division rival Jacksonville. He rushed for 93 yards against the Jags and also caught a touchdown pass. In his second game, Chris cracked the 100-yard mark, as the Titans beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 24–7. Kerry Collins stepped in at quarterback for Young, who had been injured late in the opener.

The Titans continued to roll, scoring four victories in a row to push their record to 6–0. Against the Kansas City Chiefs, Tennessee set a team record with 332 yards on the ground. Chris contributed more than half that total with 168, including a marvelous 66-yard touchdown run. The reality check for the Titans, the experts agreed, would come in their seventh game, a Monday Night contest against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Titans had beaten the Colts a grand total of three time since the formation of the AFC South. They made it four thanks to a great defensive effort against Peyton Manning. Tennessee broke open a tight game in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 points to win 31–21. Chris scored the touchdown that sealed Indy's fate.

The Titans made it 8–0 against the Green Bay Packers with a 19–16 overtime win. Chris scored the only touchdown for Tennessee, and his running in the extra period helped set up Rob Bironas for the winning field goal. Victories over the Jaguars and Chicago Bears had fans dreaming of the NFL’s most unlikely undefeated season, but the New York Jets put an end to that fantasy as Brett Favre engineered a 34–13 win. The team took out its anger on the Detroit Lions a week later, 47–10. Chris scored a pair of touchdowns, one on a 58-yard run.

The Titans wrapped up their regular season with a meaningless 23–0 loss to the Colts. With 13 wins, Tennessee already had the top seed in the playoffs sewn up. Fisher rested Chris along with several other regulars, including Collins, who was getting MVP consideration for his remarkable rebirth. Chris finished the regular season with 1,228 yards on 251 carries. He also caught 43 passes and scored a total of 10 touchdowns. His 81.9 yards per game led all NFL rookies.

Chris was back on the field for Tennessee’s playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens, who were led by one of his competitors for Rookie of the Year, Joe Flacco. The Titans had lost a little of their mojo, and despite a first-quarter TD run by Chris, they had trouble solving Baltimore’s tough defense. Chris was the lone bright spot, racking up 100 yards in the first two quarters before an ankle injury ended his day.  

The game was tied 13–13 in the fourth quarter, when Matt Stover kicked the winning field goal for the Ravens. The decisive drive was marred by controversy, as the play clock seemed to have expired just before Flacco took a snap on third down and completed a long pass.

No one was sure what to expect from the Titans in 2009. They weren't as good as their 13–3 record, especially with the loss to free agency of defensive enforcer Albert Haynesworth. But it was still a shock when Tennessee could not buy a win in the early going. 

After dropping a 13–10 overtime heartbreaker on opening day, the Titans were edged by Houston Texans and Jets to start 0–3. Things went from bad to worse. Tennessee got destroyed in its next three games, by the Jaguars, Colts and Patriots. The New England score was 59–0. It had been 33 years since an NFL team was beaten that badly. 

Lost in the carnage of the first half was Chris’s league-leading rushing performance. Even with the Titans playing from behind week after week, Chris was doing great things with the football when he got his hands on it. Midway through the year, he was averaging over 6.6 yards per carry. It has been more than a half-century since an NFL back finished the year with that kind of stat. During the New England game, for instance, Chris carried the ball 17 times on a snow-covered field for 128 yards. 

After a merciful bye week, the Titans righted their ship. They won four games in a row, starting with a 30–13 victory over Jacksonville. Chris took the team on his shoulders and produced one of the greatest performances in franchise history. With the game tied 13–13 in the third quarter and fans waiting for the worst, Chris broke off touchdown runs of 52 yards and 89 yards. On the second, he trampled safety Brian Russell, demonstrating his raw power. He posted 228 yards to set a team record.

The game also marked the return of Young to the starting role. Over the next few games, he and Chris developed a good rapport, and Chris soon became Young’s go-to target. Having both speedsters on the field forced defenses to make difficult choices, and the Titans began to exploit these situations. They won eight of their final 10 games, including gut-check victories over the Texans, Arizona Cardinals, Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks. 

Chris was right in the thick of things during this resurgence. He rushed for 800 yards in the month of November, setting an NFL record. Chris also had three scoring runs of 85 or more yards. That not only set a season record, but a career record as well.

As the season concluded, more records fell. Chris surpassed Earl Campbell's team rushing mark when he gained 134 in the final game against the Seahawks. He ended the year with 2,006 yards to lead the NFL. Only five other players in history had reached that plateau. The Seattle contest marked the 11th game in a row in which he had surpassed 100 yards. With the 20 yards he added as a receiver that day, Chris broke Marshall Faulk's NFL record for total yards from scrimmage, with 2,509 yards. He was later the league’s only unanimous choice as an All-Pro at any position.

Although the 2009 season was a write-off by Week 7, at least the Titans were putting their best players on the field in a preview of 2010. Needless to say, Chris is among those players. In fact, he is among the finest backs in all of football. Along with Adrian Peterson of the Vikings, he leads the next generation of runners into the future.

Not bad for a player who was recruited as a defensive back out of high school.

CHRIS THE PLAYER

Chris likes to call himself “every coach’s dream.” He’s not far off the mark. He has quick feet, an elusive running style in traffic, and explosive, breakaway speed. These qualities have made Chris the NFL’s premier “big-play” back. As a receiver, he is almost unstoppable when going one-on-one against linebackers.

When Chris came to the NFL, there was some question as to whether he was good enough to run between the tackles. That is no longer in doubt. He has superb balance and can take a hit. Even when he gets creamed, he bounces right off the turf as if it were a flag football game.

Running outside, however, is where Chris truly shines. He gets to the edge, turns the corner, and then outraces everyone down the sideline. As fast as he is, he is a patient runner who waits for his blocks.

The bottom line is that Chris is one of those rare players for whom opposing teams simply cannot prepare. Why? Because there is no way to simulate his speed in practice. At 5-11 and 200 pounds, Chris isn't particularly big. But his burst through the line of scrimmage and ability to out-run opponents is devastating. Until Chris loses a step, he should remain one of the NFL’s most explosive offensive weapons.  

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