RIP Alonzo Johnson

[Theologator]

Sad to learn Alonzo Johnson’s died on Friday. He was a great college LB & able successor to Wilber Marshall at OLB. Just 60 years old.

I was fortunate to watch the 1985 f$u game from the sidelines and on the field for the postgame celebration. My best memory of that day is high-fiving Alonzo Johnson and getting picked up in a bear hug by him. (He was a regular customer at the ABC on Archer Road & 34th where I worked. He liked E&J Brandy at the time.)

God bless and keep him. Hate to see him go so young.

Rutherford and UF football legend Alonzo Johnson has passed away

Johnson among the best athletes Rutherford and Bay County has ever produced!

www.wjhg.com

 

[jdh5484]

One of my favorites. We had some outstanding LBs in the 80s.

RIP.

I didn't know at one point, Pell kicked him off the team.

Johnson signed with the Gators out of Rutherford High in Panama City in 1981, and after getting trapped in Pell's doghouse, he was dismissed and returned home and worked briefly as a construction laborer. The two made up, and Johnson was a standout from 1982-85, earning All-American honors as a junior and senior.

Carter's Corner: Alonzo Johnson, a Gator Great Hard to Forget - Florida Gators

A remembrance of former Gators linebacker Alonzo Johnson, a two-time All-American and key player in one of UF's most memorable wins.

floridagators.com

 

[AuggieDosta]

Wow, yes, R.I.P. Alonzo Johnson.

 

[FireFoley]

WTF? Too young. Very good player. My age and vividly remember that 1985 game at Florida Field as Ricky Nattiel ran right past Deion. RIP AJ.

 

[LaylaGator]

RIP. Way too young.

 

[deuce]

Makes me feel old, oh wait......

RIP Gator!

 

[URGatorBait]

They say these things happen in threes

 

[Joegator96]

Too sad. A Gator great! RIP Zo.

 

[78]

Zo came to Florida with a ridiculously high ceiling -- blazing fast, explosive, ball hawking, all over the field. We thought he might even be an upgrade over Wilber. He was that seemingly good.

He had great seasons and he also had serious demons -- blow -- that later landed him in drug rehab and ruined his NFL career. He was so thin by then you wondered how he even played football.

It's so sad to hear of someone passing at 60. My first thought was the obvious. It terribly weakens the heart. But he's gone and that's all that matters. RIP to a great athlete.

 

[Lake Gator]

RIP Alonzo. Condolences to family and loved ones.