The Nebraska Corn Huskers will be down a receiver this season as Keyshawn Johnson Jr., the son of former USC and NFL wideout Keyshawn Johnson, is taking a leave of absence from the team. The decision comes weeks following Johnson Jr.’s citation for possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia by University of Nebraska-Lincoln police.
Keyshawn Johnson wants his son to mature during leave of absence from Nebraska
His son enrolled at Nebraska in January.
Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images, @keyshawnjohnsonjr
According to the Omaha World Herald, Johnson Jr. will hopefully return to the team in January. The paper adds that the decision is a mutual one between Johnson Jr., head coach Mike Riley, and the Nebraska program.
Keyshawn Johnson Sr. wants his son to “mature” for six months before considering a return to the school.
“You’re in college now,” Johnson Sr. said. “You’re an adult. You’re not a kid. You take a look at it from afar and let me know how important it is to you.”
Johnson’s son enrolled early in Lincoln this past January, and participated in the Huskers’ spring football season. An appendectomy limited him a bit, but he did play in the spring game, and made one catch.
Prior to enrolling he was a three-star recruit per 247Sports, and was the No. 38 receiver prospect in the 2017 class. Nebraska blog Corn Nation had some high hopes for Johnson Jr. as a early as this season.
Johnson is expected to be a key contributor to a receiving core relying on a number of freshman to this point. Behind Junior Stanley Morgan and Senior De’Mornay Pierson-El, the Huskers are thin at the wideout position.
Johnson, a top 50 wide receiver recruit in the class of 2017 hauled in 68 receptions last season playing for a talented Calabasas High School. Johnson finished his senior season with six touchdowns and 944 yards receiving.
The Omaha World Herald adds that Johnson Jr. may take junior college classes while back home in California, but he doesn’t want to play college football anywhere else besides Nebraska.
“You just want to get to college to party, but you don’t understand: You’re playing college football. It’s a business. And it’s a serious business.” Johnson Sr. said via the newspaper. “If you want to become successful — make it to the NFL — you’ve got to embrace it. You’ve got to own it. You don’t make it to the next level by cruising. There’s no cruise control.”
We’ll see if this affects the recent movement of Calabasas High School players, located in Los Angeles, to Nebraska. Riley currently has three players from the school on his roster in early enrollee quarterback Tristan Gebbia, and safety Marquel Dismuke. One of Nebraska’s biggest 2018 commits, the nation’s No. 10 cornerback Brendan “Bookie” Radley-Hiles, played his junior year at the California high school.
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