It’s a vacation that has lasted 27 years and counting.

Will Johnson was with the New Orleans Saints in the late 1980s and struggling mightily. On the field, his path to playing time with the Saints defence was blocked by the presence of Pro Bowl-calibre players.

“They had me on special teams,” recalls Johnson. “My hamstrings weren’t made for running over 40 yards. I’m a 10-yard guy. Or less.”

Life wasn’t any better away from the stadium.

“I was having relationship issues,” he says, “and it was just stressing me out. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t concentrate. I needed a break from NFL, just to get away from the States.”

As luck would have it, Saints general manager Bill Kuharich’s brother Lary was head coach of the Calgary Stampeders at the time, and Bill suggested that a trip north of the border was in order.

“I came up here, just as a vacation to get away from things,” says Johnson. “And I ended up staying.”

The big man from Louisiana wound up playing for eight seasons with the Red and White and, after getting hurt in 1997 during his one season with Saskatchewan, he returned to Calgary.

“In ’92 when we won the Grey Cup,” he explains, “I decided I was going to stay here, just because I was happy here. I was being treated well, I enjoyed the players I was playing with, I enjoyed the coaching staff, I enjoyed the trainers. Overall, it was just a great environment for me to be in at the time.”

“I just wanted to be happy, and the CFL made me happy.”
– Will Johnson

Johnson still believes he could have eventually found a solid gig in the NFL had he kept pushing — in addition to the Saints, he had a stint with the Chicago Bears — but his heart belonged to Calgary.

“I was more concerned about being happy than money,” he says. “I was being treated well up here. I’m happy, I’m playing. There’s more to life than money.

“I just wanted to be happy, and the CFL made me happy.”

Less pleased were the quarterbacks the defensive lineman terrorized during his CFL career — Damon Allen, Tracy Ham, Doug Flutie, Danny McManus, Kent Austin, Matt Dunigan et al. His ability to bag opposition QBs resulted in six division all-star berths and five CFL all-star honours.

“There were games,” remembers long-time teammate and linebacker Alondra Johnson, “that he was virtually unblock-able.”

In 2010, Will Johnson was added to the Stampeders’ Wall of Fame and a strong case can be made that he is overdue for enshrinement into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. He ranked eighth all-time in sacks when he retired — he’s now 11th — and finished just one agonizing sack shy of 100 in his career.

“If you watch film,” Johnson says with a laugh, “I had more than 99 career sacks. But I have to leave it there because I wasn’t the statistician. I’ve had a guy in my grasp and other guys have him and taken him out of my hands.”

Johnson good-naturedly accused longtime Stamps colleagues Kent Warnock and Stu Laird of being the most frequent sack-stealing culprits.

Though just one sack away from that milestone, he remains the Stamps’ all-time leader in that category and while his closest pursuer, Charleston Hughes, is still active, he goes into 2016 a full 27 sacks behind.

“Charleston never had a chance,” laughs Johnson.

The retired sackmaster points out that Hughes has already played more games in his Stamps career so, “Anything he gets now doesn’t count. You can tell him that.”

Once his own playing career was over, Johnson knew he wanted to be in Calgary but less certain was his new career path.

“I had a family to take care of,” he says. “I had to take three jobs at a time just to come close to what I was making playing football. I worked at the Y, I worked at the jail (as a corrections officer) and I worked at the group home and with Loomis Armored Car.”

Then, the Calgary Police Service came calling. Johnson had worked as a policeman in Dallas in between NFL jobs and jumped at the opportunity.

“I’m in my 17th year with Calgary Police Service,” he says.

Johnson is a senior level 2 constable and he works primarily in schools.

“I love working with the smaller kids,” he says.

Earlier in his law-enforcement career, he was part of the police detail working at McMahon Stadium during Stampeders games. Naturally, he would often get recognized and, until he was honoured in 2010, fans would point to the names on the Wall of Fame and ask Johnson when he would be joining the group.

“The fans were amazing with the things they said to me,” says Johnson. “It was genuine and heartfelt and it just felt great to hear it.”

Johnson remains active in football, having coached 14 years at the bantam, midget and high school levels.

“I’m not a computer coach,” he says. “I’ve been there and done it. I know how the kids feel and I know how hard to push them.”

Johnson says he coaches out of a sense of duty and a desire to give back, but he says he gets something out of the deal, too.

“It’s great just to see the young men build up discipline and respect for one another,” he says. “You give them instruction, you trust them, they trust you and they go out there and do what they’ve been taught.

“You make them responsible,” he adds, “because that’s what life is all about.”