PANAMA CITY, Fla. — The No. 44 jersey will never be worn again for the Rutherford High School football team.
The school retired Alonzo Johnson’s number Friday, Aug. 21 in honor of one of the greatest football players in Rutherford history and one of the most accomplished athletes to come out of Bay County.
Johnson’s family, including his sisters and son, Alonzo Johnson Jr., joined former Rutherford and University of Florida teammates to celebrate his legacy more than two years after his death.
For his son, seeing his father’s number retired was an emotional recognition of a career that took Johnson from Rutherford to the NFL.
“It means a lot. You see everybody was sobbing and crying tears,” Johnson Jr. said. “It’s actually a great thing to get his jersey retired and it’s just good to have that recognition.”
Johnson was a standout football player for the Rams, earning defensive player of the year and all-state honors. He took his career to the Gators, where he became one of the dominant defensive players in the Southeastern Conference.
At Florida, Johnson played outside linebacker from 1981-85. He finished his Gators career with 335 tackles, 55 tackles for loss and 27 sacks.
He was a first-team All-American and first-team All-SEC selection in both 1984 and 1985. He also served as a team captain during those seasons.
In 1984, Johnson led Florida with 90 tackles. In 1985, he recorded 106 tackles, 12 sacks and 19 tackles for loss. His 12 sacks and 19 tackles for loss in 1985 were then single-season Florida records, while his 27 career sacks remained a school record for 16 years.
Johnson was one of five finalists for the Butkus Award in 1985. The Philadelphia Eagles selected him in the second round with the 48th overall pick of the 1986 NFL Draft, and he played two seasons in Philadelphia.
Florida later named Johnson to its All-Century Team and All-Time Team. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a Gator Great.
But those who knew Johnson best said his legacy cannot be measured just by statistics.
His son remembers a father who could make people laugh and remain positive even when circumstances were difficult.
“He was a great person, very charismatic, very funny, very loving,” Johnson Jr. said. “He loved his family.”
That influence followed Johnson Jr. into football. His father played defense; his son played wide receiver. But the lessons crossed positions.
“I just took kind of, you know, his mindset on everything and I kind of took that in part of my game,” Johnson Jr. said.
His father’s approach to football was simple: work harder than everyone else.
“You got to be a dog,” Johnson Jr. said. “You got to want it more than everybody else. You got to work very hard, you know, every day. You can’t approach the game like it’s a game. You got to approach it like it’s a profession.”
Former Rutherford teammate Howard Akers knew Johnson before Florida and remained close to him after they left Panama City.
“Alonzo was the kind of player that was relentless,” Akers said. “He was a great teammate.”
Akers and Johnson signed scholarships to Florida together. The move from home to Gainesville gave the two teammates another reason to lean on each other.
“He and I signed scholarships to go to University of Florida, and you know, we had each other when we were there,” Akers said. “We went through a lot just going away from home.”
The two decided they would face those challenges together.
“We kind of made the decision that wherever we were going, we’re going together because we’re brothers, man,” Akers said. “And it helped out because we both went through some challenges, but we were there for each other.”
Akers said signing with Florida together remains one of his favorite memories.
“We had our families together, we had the coaches from Florida there, we had a nice ceremony,” he said. “And like I said, it was special. You don’t get that chance. And I feel very fortunate and humbled to be with him.”
Their paths eventually separated, but the friendship picked up where it left off when they reconnected years later.
“Some years later, man, we hooked back up and it was just like we’d never been apart,” Akers said.
Johnson’s death made the celebration Friday night bittersweet for his former teammate.
“The day he passed away was very difficult,” Akers said. “But this kind of makes it special. So I wish he was here.”
Akers said he felt fortunate to have shared both the field and a friendship with Johnson.
“This is a great send-off and I’m just so blessed and humbled that I was able to be his friend and teammate,” he said. “I just hope everybody realizes not only how great of a football player he was, but how great of a person he was,” Akers said, “because that far exceeds anything he did on the field.”
Adebanji Bamidele is a sports reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He can be reached at abamidele@gannett.com or through X, formerly known as Twitter, @AdebanjiBamide1.
This article originally appeared on The News Herald: Rutherford retires ’44’ for late star Alonzo Johnson
Reporting by Adebanji Bamidele, Panama City News Herald / The News Herald
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Adebanji Bamidele, Panama City News Herald | USA TODAY Network
