LARAMIE, Wyo. — It was the University of Wyoming vs. New Mexico in War Memorial Stadium. The date was Sept. 4, 1982.
LARAMIE, Wyo. — It was the University of Wyoming vs. New Mexico in War Memorial Stadium. The date was Sept. 4, 1982. That’s when Cowboy senior Craig Johnson lined up behind center and took the snap, thus becoming the first Black quarterback to start a game in Wyoming football history. "I had no idea that was true at the time," Johnson, now in his 10th season as the quarterbacks’ coach with the Tennessee Titans, said. "I thought I was just another guy going in there playing. The reason I picked Wyoming was because I knew they were going to allow me the opportunity to play quarterback for as long as I wanted to. I also liked the conference (the old WAC) with it being very wide open. At that time, the African-American quarterback was the exception and not the rule. I was fortunate in that I was kind of protected from that at Wyoming by my coaches." That moment, 14 years removed from the infamous "Black 14" incident, is forever etched in the school’s history. Although the times have significantly changed and there are now many African-American athletes now quarterbacking college teams all across the country, Wyoming will field its second Black quarterback in a starting role Saturday when junior Robert Benjamin is at the controls of the Cowboys’ new up-tempo, spread offense in the 2009 season opener with Weber State. Benjamin was officially given the starting nod Monday when first-year head coach Dave Christensen released his updated depth chart. Benjamin was listed No. 1, while true freshman Austyn Carta-Samuels moved into the No. 2 spot ahead of senior Karsten Sween, who was at No. 3. Johnson was recruited to Wyoming in 1979 by coach Bill Lewis but later played for coaches Pat Dye and Al Kincaid. He redshirted his first season and then played in a backup role before landing the starting job in 1982 after former Cowboy star Phil Davis graduated. "That was way back a long time ago," Johnson recalled with a laugh. "Being from Denver, it was a real thrill for me to get a chance to go to Wyoming. Obviously, it was close enough for my family to come and see me play, but far enough away for me to be on my own. "I remember the fans there were hard but fair … tough on the quarterbacks as all fans would be. If you’re successful, they’re going to cheer you. If you’re not successful, they’re going to let you know it. Fans are passionate and they want to win and win now. "Some may go over the edge, but for the most part they were good. I knew the fans at Wyoming were behind our Cowboys. Those fans cheered me numerous times and they also let me know it when I wasn’t playing up to the potential I had. That’s just the way it was." Johnson started nine of the Cowboys’ 12 games during the 1982 season. The other three starts went to Brad Baumberger. Johnson ended up completing 79 of 175 passes for 1,130 yards and seven touchdowns. He also rushed for 536 yards and four more scores. "For me personally, that season was tough because I had high expectations going into my senior year," Johnson said. "I had played quite a bit previously, and I didn’t play as well as I would have liked. I was very inconsistent because I put too much pressure on myself. I can say that now that I’m a coach. I’m much more critical of my play now as a coach than I was as a player."When I was a player there I said, ‘Hey, I’m not playing too bad.’ Now as a coach, I can look back and critique what I did and I can say, ‘Yeah, you really weren’t playing too good.’" Johnson said he remembered a couple of unkind comments that were made and that he received his share of boos during his UW career, but it was more because of performance and how the team was doing than it had to do with race. "From that standpoint, it wasn’t any different at Wyoming than anywhere else," he said. "When you don’t have a lot of success and there are high expectations, the fans let you know it, and they definitely let me know it. The biggest issue is if you have success and play well, they’ll support you. And if you don’t, it’s going to be a tough environment regardless if you’re Craig Johnson, Steve Young, Warren Moon, Robert Benjamin, or whoever it may be." Johnson began his coaching career in 1983 at Wyoming as a graduate assistant. From there he went on and had assistant coaching stints at Arkansas, Army, Rutgers, VMI, Northwestern and Maryland before landing with the Titans in 2000. Johnson is now in his 10th season with the Titans and eighth as quarterbacks coach. During his tenure, Johnson has developed an NFL co-MVP (Steve McNair, 2003), an NFL Rookie of the Year (Vince Young, 2006) and helped an accomplished veteran recapture his high level of play (Kerry Collins). The quarterback group has totaled five Pro Bowl invitations under Johnson’s guidance. Johnson went on to say that he keeps in touch with a lot of his former Cowboy teammates and that he’ll be keeping an eye out this season to see how Wyoming progresses under Christensen. He also offered a final piece of advice for Benjamin as well as Carta-Samuels and Sween. "In over 25 years of coaching, I’ve found that when you’re the quarterback if things go good, you’ll get the credit even if sometimes it isn’t deserved," Johnson said. "And if things go bad, you’ll get the blame regardless if it is your fault or not. I would tell Robert or any quarterback that. You are in the spotlight. "The quarterback spot is the greatest position in all of the team sports and it’s a lot of fun to play. But you have to, regardless of the level you are playing at, have to be able to put up with criticism. If you can’t, then you need to be doing something else because if you are attached to that spot as a quarterback, you’re going to hear about it through newspapers, talk shows, blogs or whatever. "You have to have confidence in yourself. If you read or hear about all the negative things that you supposedly can’t do, it will ruin that confidence. You just have to fight through it. Even in the NFL, Tom Brady doesn’t get much criticism and Peyton Manning doesn’t get much criticism, but everyone else does. That’s how it goes, and you just have to go through it and handle your job. That’s the nature of the position, and how you handle it determines your future. "That’s all part of the deal for being a quarterback," he added. ______ In photo: Wyoming Cowboy’s quarterback Robert Benjamin completes a pass play under pressure during a Cowboys inter-squad football scrimmage Tuesday Aug. 18, 2009 at Jonah Field in Laramie, Wyo. (AP Photo/Laramie Boomerang, Andy Carpenean) Copyright 2009 Associated Press, Laramie Daily Boomerang. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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