ESTEVAN — Long before he was winning a Grey Cup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and protecting quarterbacks in the CFL, Belton Johnson was a farm kid growing up in Mississippi.
Johnson was the guest speaker at the Estevan Farm Family of the Year Banquet on March 27. He entertained the crowd with tales of his agriculture roots and his football experiences.
He told the audience that he grew up on a farm near Coffeeville, Miss., which he said is about an hour south of Memphis, Tenn. The Johnson farm encompassed about about 80 acres of land, and they had cows, chickens and pigs.
“Before football ever entered my life – I think I started playing when I was five years old … – there was farming, family and a goat named Billy,” he said to laughter.
The crowd laughed some more when Johnson called Billy the farm security who had a knack for eating everything in sight.
“Billy, he was the first defensive player I ever learned to outrun. And believe me, I could run,” said Johnson.
Every morning, Johnson and his brother Marcus woke up early to complete chores and feed the animals, starting with the pigs and ending with the cattle.
“Those moments taught me something early. You can’t be lazy on a farm. The work won’t let you. And my mamma won’t let you," he said.
His single mother worked 12-hour shifts at a paper mill for 28 years and she also owned a restaurant, It’s Eatin’ Time, while running the farm and raising her boys. She had help from his great aunt, who taught him how to cook – a skill that he still has today.
The Johnson brothers grew up loving football, he said, but their mother didn’t like the sport because of the injury risk.
“My mom, she didn’t come to the games. She didn’t want to come because she was afraid of seeing us get hurt," said Johnson. "But a hairdresser, who was a good friend, and the town folks would always come back telling her ‘Those boys, they can play some football.’”
Once she came to the games, Johnson said she saw how good the brothers were and she never missed a game, even when they were playing Division 1 NCAA football for the University of Mississippi and travelling throughout the southeast U.S.
Johnson and his brother played three years of NCAA football together on the offensive line at "Ole Miss". Marcus had a scholarship, was a second-round NFL draft pick and spent six years in the NFL.
People think that success came easy for the brothers, Johnson said, but people don’t see the hard work, the early mornings, farm chores, shared bedrooms, arguments and struggles
“Success rarely looks glamorous when you’re living it,” said Johnson.
Belton Johnson made the Ole Miss football team as a walk-on.
“I went from being one of the top players in high school to the bottom of the barrel, pretty much. Walk-ons don’t get treated very well. Nobody knows your name. Nobody cares what you did before.”
Johnson missed his first 5 a.m. team meeting and had to run 20 100-yard sprints in the Mississippi summer heat. He was told if he missed another meeting, he’d be off the team. He missed the 5 a.m. session the following day because he slept in. He found his locker empty and thought he was finished.
A conversation with his mother was his saving grace. She reached out to the coach who recruited him and promised Johnson would never miss another meeting again.
“And she was right, because to this day, I still wake up at 4 a.m. I get up every day at 4 a.m. … and I go work out and I do something at the house … and she was right. I have never, not once, been late for anything since that moment of time. That was a big first lesson that football taught me.”
While at Ole Miss, he worked hard in the gym and improved because he always showed up.
“That’s what perseverance looks like. Not being perfect, not being the most talented, not having the easiest road, just showing up, even when discipline is all you’ve got.”
Johnson spent 10 years playing professional football, three in the NFL and seven in the CFL. He won a Grey Cup with the Green and White in 2007. After retirement, he went to work for SGI and eventually became a manager.
He told the crowd about visiting a farm outside of Regina a few years ago, and learning about their herd, feeding program, calving and bull sales.
“What struck me wasn’t the size of their operation but it was the heart behind it all, the caring, the pride, the sweat. And I realized that’s the same spirit I grew up with. The farm families, football families, working families, they all the share the same thing – perseverance.”
He learned a lot from football, but the greatest lessons weren’t about the game; they were about life, and these are attributes people need more now.
