Johnson shares perspective about event

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

A Van Wert High School graduate was recently honored on one of the biggest stages of the college football world. He also had a firsthand perspective of a horrific event on New Year’s Day that stunned the entire nation.

Dru Johnson, a 2020 Van Wert High School graduate and current Ashland Unversity student-athlete was named to the 2024 Allstate American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team.

Johnson, a wide receiver for the Ashland University Eagles and the other 21 award recipients from all levels of college football were chosen for the award from a field of 178 nominees. They were invited to New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl and were honored at halftime of the game. They were each given a plaque with their name on it and an AFCA Allstate Good Works Team patch.

“I remember my coach calling me, telling me about how he was nominating me for it,” Johnson said. “At first, I was very honored just by the nomination, knowing that Ashland has had multiple people selected to the Good Works Team. Knowing the character and service of those guys, to be considered in the same breath as them was an honor in itself. Then, I found out that I was selected from our media guy at Ashland and was completely surprised.” 

Among his volunteer activities: helping at Van Wert High School, Ashland University’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, Ashland Special Olympics, Ashland Southview Grace Bethren Church, Ashland Balloonfest and more.

While in New Orleans to receive the honor, Johnson was able to meet a pair of Heisman Trophy winners, both from the University of Florida – Tim Tebow and Danny Wuerffel, along with former player and ESPN analyst Sam Acho and current Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman.

“All (are) very genuine and caring human beings, linking them to the Good Works Team and their own personal foundations,” Johnson noted.  

Johnson flew to New Orleans on January 30, ahead of New Year’s night Sugar Bowl game, between Notre Dame and Georgia.

However, during the early morning hours of January 1, tragedy occurred when Shamsud Din-Jabbar drove a pickup truck onto Bourbon Street and struck New Year’s revelers, killing 14 people and injuring nearly three dozen others. The news spread quickly and it wasn’t long before Johnson and his father, Demond, who were staying a block and a half away on Canal Street, learned what had happened.

“When I woke up, I saw my father had a shocked look on his face,” Johnson said. “When I asked him what was wrong he told me about what happened, sent me a news link with the story and turned on the local New Orleans news. Soon after, I was contacted by our Good Works Team rep that the hotel that we were in was on lockdown and that nobody could leave the hotel for our own safety.”

“For most of the day, we sat watching the TV, watching as more information revealed itself and more details arose,” he said. “After watching for a while, we heard that the Sugar Bowl would be postponed, leaving us and all the other members of the Good Works Team with no idea how it was going to work. Were we going to be able to still go to the game? What about our flights home? How are they going to get rescheduled? Should the game even be played in New Orleans? Should we stay if it does?”

The game was ultimately moved from 8:45 p.m. New Year’s night to 4 p.m. the following day, amid heightened security at and around the game site, the Caesars Superdome. Johnson praised event organizers and the New Orleans Police Department.

“They did such an amazing job making sure that all the members of the Good Works Team were safe and secure for the rest of the week,” he explained. “I don’t think I truly felt in danger after that morning because we had so much security around us. I noticed this was a theme everywhere of course. In the following days, you could count around 10-15 police vehicles on every block, and security at the Sugar Bowl was airtight.”

Johnson noted the entire experience is one he will never forget.

“The actions of a few people took the breath out of New Orleans that morning, but to be able to see firsthand the resilience of the people of New Orleans and Louisiana, banding together and picking each other up was inspiring,” he said. “I will never forget New Years Day, instead of getting ready for the bowl game, we were at the Good Works team brunch. I helped organize a prayer where multiple people called out to the Lord for him to watch over the families and friends of those who lost their lives, and the heart of the city of New Orleans.”

“To me, that is what the Good Works Team is all about – in times of distress and uncertainty, being able to set an example for a broken world through visible action, something that they can really grab onto and feel in their soul,” he added. 

During his senior season at Van Wert, the 2020 Division IV state championship season, Johnson was a key member of the team and caught 55 passes for 1,236 yards and 16 touchdowns. This past season for Ashland, he was on the receiving end of 23 passes for 337 yards and a touchdown.

Johnson is a redshirt junior at Ashland and has one year of eligibililty left, but he won’t be using it. Instead, Johnson, who sports a 3.81 grade point average, will graduate in the spring with a degree in sports management.