Black History: A tribute to my brother

After desegregation, my eldest brother Abe Johnson, Jr., attended Chapman High School where he led the school to an undefeated football season and its first and only State football championship.

In his senior year, as a 5 foot 9½ inch, 210 pound fullback, the Florida Sports Writers Association named him to the 1968 Class C All-State football team, after he rushed for 1,077 yards on only 66 carries and scored 13 touchdowns.

In November of that year, the team was fresh off a 55-10 district win over Wewahitchka. With that victory, the team captured the Apalachicola Valley Conference and the Class C district title, behind a 285-yard rushing game from Abe. Afterward the Tallahassee Democrat named him the Big Bend football back of the week. During that game, he carried the ball only 12 times for a 23.7 average and scored on runs of 10, 85, and 95 yards.

After high school, he attended and played college football at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) before entering the U.S. Army through their Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program as a 2nd Lieutenant.

He is an ordained minister, the founder and current President of Smith Chapel Bible College in Tallahassee.