Texas Tech University Athletics
Meet The Two-Deep: D.J. Johnson
August 15, 2011 | Football
August 15, 2011
"Meet The Two-Deep" is an exclusive daily feature at texastech.com designed to allow Red Raider Nation to connect with this year's football team. The players in this feature made the official "two-deep" following spring practices, which means they will be competing for a starting spot when Texas Tech opens the 2011 football season at home against Texas State on Sept. 3. Check-in each morning at 10 a.m. (CT) on texastech.com and get to know a different member of your Red Raider football team.
Meet D.J. Johnson | Watch on YouTube | 
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What goes through your mind when running onto the field with the team on a gameday?
"Usually like doing these plays, how can I help my teammates, like depending on if it's a pass or something like that where do I need to be in order to make this play happen or in order to knock this timing off this quarterback to allow my D-line to get there or my linebackers, or anything like that what's my job."
What is your favorite thing about being a Red Raider?
"My favorite thing is I guess just family, we're all family oriented and we're all together we're able to talk about things and discuss things in the film room even though it's a serious place sometimes we can ease the tenseness in the room because we're a family we can talk each other and just joke around.
Is there a motto or a phrase you live by?
" `The only place where success comes before heart and the only place for hard work is in the dictionary' I read that and it's just a helpful expression."
What is your personal goal for this season?
"My personal goal is just to be as effective as I can, in anyway, I just want people to look back and have to second guess offenses and quarterbacks to look at me and have to second guess what they're going to do and plot ground with them and what my abilities are."
Do you have any hidden talents?
"Yeah, I can make this little weird noise with my voice but it kind of scares people sometimes."
Who are some of the major influences in your life, both on and off the field?
"My family, my main influences are my nephews back home in Austin, and everything just to have them live a life I wasn't able to live when I was growing up that would be beautiful to have plans for my family and myself and just all that around me."
What has been the biggest difference for you personally from your first year at Tech to where you are now in your career?
"The biggest difference was my understanding of the coaches and being able to take what they're saying as coaching and not personally and being able to sit there and actually listen to them without my own opinion, or establishing my own opinion."
Give your personal message to Red Raider Nation.
"Red Raider fans we're happy to have you, support us this next coming year, and we're going to do big things and have big plans. Go Raiders!"
