William Thomas Johnson (born October 31, 1960 in Poughkeepsie, New York) is a former professional American football

American football

American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 player from 1984 to 1987 in both the USFL

United States Football League

The United States Football League was an American football league which was in active operation from 1983 to 1987. It played a spring/summer schedule in its first three seasons and a traditional autumn/winter schedule was set to commence before league operations ceased.The USFL was conceived in...

 and the NFL

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

.

Primarily a running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

, Johnson played college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 at Arkansas State University

Arkansas State Red Wolves

The Arkansas State University Red Wolves is the name given to Arkansas State University's athletic teams. The university is affiliated with the Sun Belt Conference in sports and maintains NCAA Division I status.-History:...

, lettering in 1979, 1980 and 1982. Following his collegiate career, he was drafted by the Denver Gold

Denver Gold

The Denver Gold was a franchise in the United States Football League, an attempt to establish a second major professional football league in the United States, playing a springtime season, from 1983 to 1985...

 in the 17th round in the 1984 USFL Draft.

Johnson played two years with the Gold. In his first season, he rushed the ball 36 times for 126 yards and two touchdowns (and another touchdown receiving). In the Gold's final season, he finished 1985 as the 3rd highest rusher in the league with 1261 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also caught 29 passes for 337 yards and another touchdown.

Johnson was selected by the NFL's Cincinnati Bengals

Cincinnati Bengals

The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional football team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. They are members of the AFC's North Division in the National Football League . The Bengals began play in 1968 as an expansion team in the American Football League , and joined the NFL in 1970 in the AFL-NFL...

in the second round (38th pick) of the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL players. After the USFL folded, Johnson joined the Bengals, where he played from 1985-1987. During his NFL career, he amassed 475 yards on 85 carries and scored one touchdown.