BRANDON – Rayquan Johnson been waiting nearly two years to finally prove he can play.
The Brandon High sophomore known as “Cam” to his friends, spent last season as a backup quarterback on the Eagles’ junior varsity squad, but after participating in the BCP Ignite Elite Combine last month, he has seen his stock rise among coaches and fans.
The 5-foot-9, 178 pound Johnson didn’t see the field often last season, but impressed many with a 40 yard dash time of 5.1 seconds, a 4.6 short shuttle and a 33 on his vertical. He says the motivation to show that he can play with the varsity squad is evident in the time he puts into football.
His nickname came from former Florida/Auburn quarterback and current Carolina Panther, Cameron Newton.
“Everyone calls me ‘Cam’ at school, because they say I look like him, play like him and I’m very confident in myself like he is,” Johnson said. “I love football more than anyone.”
Johnson says things have been a lot smoother this offseason, with a host of other coaches taking notice in his arm and ability to make plays. He says they have agreed, he has what it takes to move up.
“All of the receivers (on the team) really like my arm and I even had coaches that we played in 7-on-7 tell me that (there’s) no way I should have been on JV,” Johnson said. “I just sucked it up. Now I’m trying to be humble and focus on the future.”
He adds that during his time on the bench, there were moments where he wanted to quit. However after realizing the support around him, he knew he was in the right place.
“I just kepy my faith that one day, I would get my chance,” Johnson said. “I thought about how much I love the game of football and talked to countless number of people and my fellow teammates who told me that they needed me.”
Out of his many idols in the football world, Johnson says one is former Plant City quarterback Bennie Coney. Coney even gave him some tips and personal hardware to show him his hard work will pay off in the long run.
“I met him 0n Facebook after I had seen all his film and became his number one fan,” Johnson said. “(Coney) told me to meet him at Brandon Field and I did. He brought me a football and we talked forever. … I can call him and talk to him whether he is here at home or in Cincinatti.
“I hope to one day follow in his footsteps. … I can truly call him my big brother, (because) he believes in me and I believe in him.”
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