Johnson Unchanged In Dallas, Staying Loose As Romo's Backup

Tuesday, August 21st 2007, 6:09 pm

By: News On 6

IRVING, Texas (AP) _ Brad Johnson offers a deadpan response when asked about the generation gap between himself and Tony Romo, already a Pro Bowl quarterback without even starting a full season.

``I think I'm a very young guy myself,'' said the 38-year-old Johnson, whose 16th NFL season will be as Romo's backup with the Dallas Cowboys.

Johnson then starts talking about Warren Moon, his teammate for three seasons in the mid-1990s with the Minnesota Vikings and a nine-time Pro Bowler last selected at age 41, three years before Moon played his final NFL game.

Listen long enough and it becomes obvious that Johnson, who won a Super Bowl as Tampa Bay's starter in 2002, is being sarcastic about being young.

But while Johnson already has a well-earned reputation with the Cowboys of keeping things light _ from his dry sense of humor and easygoing demeanor to pulling a penalty flag out of his pocket during practice when a referee blew a whistle _ it is also clear he has no doubts in his ability and is ready to play in Dallas.

``My role doesn't change. The way I prepare doesn't change a bit,'' Johnson said Tuesday. ``I was in a situation in '96 where I came in and played. In '98, I got hurt. Those things happen. ... Two years ago, people didn't ever think I would play in Minnesota.''

Johnson became a starter for the first time in 1996 when Moon got hurt, and started the first 13 games 1997 before his own season-ending neck injury. He was limited to four games in 1998 because of injuries before he was traded to Washington and spent two seasons.

After losing his starting role at Tampa Bay early in the 2004 season, Johnson revived his career when he returned to the Vikings.

Johnson became the Minnesota starter again in 2005 after Daunte Culpepper's knee injury, and led the Vikings to a 7-2 record before they missed the playoffs at 9-7. Johnson started the first 14 games last year for the Vikings before rookie Tarvaris Jackson took over the final two of a 6-10 season.

The Cowboys gave Johnson a three-year free agent contract.

``Brad is probably one of the most underrated guys,'' tight end Jason Witten said. ``He's a good leader, he's won and he's played in big games. When you bring a guy like that on your team, he brings a swagger to some of the guys that haven't won a playoff game.''

Vikings coach Brad Childress indicated last year that they were interested in having Johnson stay in a mentoring role for Jackson. But Johnson didn't want to do that _ and he also doesn't consider himself doing that with Romo in Dallas.

``You just want to have a quarterback friendly room, and you want to have respect for everybody,'' Johnson said. ``There's no such thing as a mentor in this league. There isn't. That's why you have coaches to call plays and coaches to teach you.''

Plus, Romo has already been around some veteran quarterbacks in Dallas. Vinny Testaverde was with the Cowboys before Drew Bledsoe, the quarterback Romo replaced as the starter midway through last season.

``They are different than me, way different than me in the way they play and their demeanor,'' Johnson said. ``But Tony's worked hard and deserves to be where he's at. He's a guy that can make a lot of plays and is very smart.''

Johnson has started 122 of his 145 career games with Minnesota (1993-98, 2005-06), Washington (1999-2000) and Tampa Bay (2001-04). He has completed 2,620 of 4,237 career passes (61.8 percent) for 28,548 yards with 164 touchdowns and 117 interceptions.

Spotting Johnson on the practice field isn't very difficult. Look for the player wearing dark sweat pants and long-sleeve shirts _ even with the temperature pushing 100 degrees.

At first, Johnson didn't want to explain his unusual summer attire.

``It's my style,'' he said, before telling how it started when he had a brace on his surgically repaired knee after being traded to Washington in 1999.

``Everybody was making a big deal about my knee brace, so all right, you won't know if I'm wearing a knee brace or not,'' he said. ``So if anything is ever wrong with me, you never know.''

Then, Johnson gave another one of his sly smiles.