Titans running back Chris Johnson sees himself when he watches LeBron James.
Johnson told Jim Rome on Rome that he thought of himself while watching James and the Miami Heat win the NBA championship: Last season James, like Johnson, signed a new contract and took a lot of criticism when he fell short of his goals. This season Johnson says he, like James, plans to prove he’s the best in his sport.
“I feel just like LeBron — a lot of people are going to be back on the bandwagon,” Johnson said. “He had a lot of haters out there, a lot of people saying he wasn’t good and things like that and just to see how he overcame that and came back this year and won the championship, it shows his hard work and dedication.”
Johnson just barely topped 1,000 yards last season, but this season he says he wants to top 2,000 yards, as he did in 2009.
“I feel like a lot of people have written me off,” Johnson said. “I still went over 1,000 yards but it wasn’t a CJ2K year. So a lot of people are going to write me off. . . . I want to be the first one to do it twice, that’s certainly a goal of mine to do. . . . I feel like I’m still the best back in the league. When I ran for 2,000 yards my goal was to be the best player in the league and I still want to be that. In order for my team to make it to the playoffs, make it to the Super Bowl, I’m going to have to be the best.”
Even his harshest critics are recognizing James as the best player in the NBA now. Johnson would have to be a whole lot better this year than he was last year for anyone to even consider calling him the best player in the NFL.