Some comments on Charles from former Steelers/players:
Will Blackwell: “Charles Johnson trained with me. He picked me up and I showed him San Diego State and he built a training program that we worked out on.”
Corey Holliday: “The receiver group at the time had a lot of characters – Charles Johnson had the funniest laugh you have ever heard, when he laughed it made you laugh even if you didn’t know why he was laughing.”
Kordell Stewart: “Charles Johnson, Deion Figures, Ariel Solomon, Joel Steed, Chad Brown… they were all buddies from Colorado. They had my back. When I got there I felt comfortable.”
Erric Pegram: “Charles Johnson who was so cool as a person and a hell of a competitor.”
Andre Hastings: “Me, McNabb, Charles Johnson and other guys trained there together, When I retired I’d still go work out there and talked to those guys a lot. “
DeWayne Washington: “Charles Johnson and I started the academy to fill the gaps in fundamentals we saw in a lot of athletes here. You can have the talent but without the fundamentals – the techniques – you can’t let that talent shine.”
Bobby Shaw: “Me, Hines, Courtney Hawkins, Will Blackwell, Charles Johnson….you never knew where the next joke was coming from. All of us were pranksters.”
Henry Bailey: “A player would be hard pressed to find a better group of Men than Charles Johnson, Andre Hastings, Yancey Thigpen, Ernie Mills, Corey Holiday, Johnny Barnes..”
Antonio Langham: “Charles Johnson and I were good friends – we played in All-American games together.”
Deon Figures: “We used to have a CU – Colorado players – corner in the Steelers locker room. Steed, Solomon, Chad Brown, Kordell, Charles Johnson…Guys used to come over and ask if they could hang with us! “
Barron Miles: “I was with Charles the most. He was a worker and he just kept me focused on what I needed to do. He encouraged me to keep fighting for a spot.”
Mike Adams: “Charles Johnson helped as well – I played against him in college. They all taught me how to be a pro.”