<img id="article-image" fetchpriority="high" alt="American football: Fired five times and still there: NFL professional Johnson” title=”American football: Fired five times and still there: NFL professional Johnson” src=”https://www.esslinger-zeitung.de/media.media.7bf9385f-2410-49d6-8667-d270b70b252c.original700.jpg” data-linkto=”[data-type=” slider=””/> Jakob Johnson is having a wild NFL season – but he doesn’t lose his laugh because of it. Photo: Maximilian Haupt/dpa
Jakob Johnson has already been sacked five times this NFL season. But he could be on the field at the New York Giants game in Munich on Sunday. He is familiar with resistance.
New York – When football professional Jakob Johnson takes the field for the New York Giants in Munich on Sunday, it will certainly not be as a nice gesture for the German fans. “In the NFL, every game is too important and winning is too difficult for them to do any charity projects,” the Stuttgart native told the German Press Agency before the trip to Germany. “It’s about where a lot of people’s children go to school next year. Nobody is going to do me a favor to be on the pitch.” Under the coaching team led by head coach Brian Daboll, the Giants have only won two of nine games this season, and further defeats threaten jobs.
Johnson is experiencing a season that seems random to outsiders. Since signing his first contract with the New York Giants in August, he has been released five times within two months. Most recently, just last week – on Saturday, just in time for the trip to Germany, the Giants signed him back to the training squad.
He has a place on the plane on Thursday, but it is still unclear whether he will be allowed to play against the Carolina Panthers (3:30 p.m./RTL). Of course, Johnson knows the questions about how he copes with the constant back and forth: “It’s better than not having a job. And yes, I have fun.”
The rules governing an NFL team’s roster are strict
NFL teams are only allowed to have 53 professionals on their active roster at any time during a season. There are also a maximum of 17 players in the training squad. A team only gets 17 if a player is part of the support program for international players, through which Johnson and the currently injured David Bada originally made their way into the league. There must be ten professionals from the training squad in their first or second year in the NFL; there are no restrictions for the remaining six. Johnson has one of only six available spots on the Giants’ practice squad – and has had to leave several times because the team needed a spot for another player.
An NFL career lasts an average of 3.3 years
“Nothing is guaranteed in the league. I think that I have the opportunity to be here and what I do with it is the main thing,” assures Johnson. Since he came to the New England Patriots via the development program in 2020, he has achieved much more than most people gave him credit for.
He made it into the active squad of the team, which was then still coached by legendary coach Bill Belichick. He played alongside quarterback superstar Tom Brady. He is the first German offensive player in the league with a touchdown. He played for the Las Vegas Raiders. And he’s in his sixth year in the NFL. On average, a professional plays in the league for just 3.3 years.
Johnson waited tables at folk festivals
“I’m playing with the bank’s money here. My football career could have been over in 2017. But I’m still here,” he says, referring to his return to Germany after an injury at college in Tennessee. Afterwards, among other things, he waited tables at folk festivals and played football again for his home club, the Stuttgart Scorpions. “But I’m still here and have the opportunity to be on an NFL squad and have an influence on how games turn out. I can continue to develop and learn. As long as this journey continues, the how isn’t that important to me .”
Playing at the Allianz Arena would still mean a lot to Johnson. “It would just be another very, very cool moment on my journey, I would just have a lot of fun playing in front of friends and family in Germany,” he says. He organized tickets for 52 people for the game in Munich. But even without the effort, Johnson sees the trip as a win. “For me, victory is just being there, regardless of whether I’m on the pitch or not.”
