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November 17, 2018

Force Of Nature

“Ballet is a contact sport. Football is a collision sport.”

– Vince Lombardi

 

Micah Johnson is simply itching to collide.

To stack up. To bulldoze. To obliterate.

Whoever.

However.

No matter the size, strength, quickness or glittering the name recognition.

“Oh yeah, I am ready,” announced the unstoppable interior defensive lineman on walk-through Saturday at McMahon Stadium.

“I mean, it’s been two weeks. I think we all want to go out and hit somebody, feel some contact.

“This is playoff football. This is what it’s all about.”

Playoff football is, of course, all about many things. Strategy. Execution. Match-ups. Momentum. Luck.

And discipline.

Man Mountain Micah is among the most emotional of players in a deeply emotional business. That wellspring of pride and punish has at times gotten him into a spot of trouble.

Imagine some 6-foot-2 and 277-pounder straddling a tightrope, between controlled rage and outright anarchy.

Between throwing down a gauntlet and having an official throw down a hankie.

“I’ve tried to work on it,” confessed Johnson of his habit of occasionally being goaded into popping a fuse or firing off a flag-able verbal missive. “I don’t ever want to cost the team. To put the team in a bad situation, that’s something I don’t want to do.

“But coach Dave lets me be me. He encourages me to be me. He always tells me to walk that line. I’ve tried to walk the line so that it never spills over too much.

“They’ve been patient with me as an organization. They’ve worked with me from that aspect, learning how to rein it in, dial it back, kinda control the passion.

“Before, it was more uncontrolled passion that just comes with the game. In my opinion – especially the defensive side of the ball, the defensive line – you’d better have some passion.”

Micah Johnson.

The glue of the Stampeders’ improving D line enjoyed another stellar season in 2018: 14 quarterback takedowns, a pick from the defensive interior and four forced fumbles en route to the team’s Outstanding Defensive Player nomination.

Right now, the man is something just this side of a force of nature.

“I want Micah to play Micah football without taking any 15-yarders,’’ said Stampeders’ boss Dave Dickenson, the day before facing the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West Final. “We talk about poise. But you’ve gotta have emotion. I say the same to Don Jackson: Be who you are.

“Some guys are just basically businesslike and get the job done. Other guys kinda need that extra fire, talking … Juwan Simpson would be another guy that had to talk to get himself going.

“And I think Micah does like the chatter. You just can’t take it over the line, hurt your team.

“But he’s had a great year. To be honest, I think he’s had his best year and one of the better years I’ve seen a defensive tackle have in the CFL. He’s been outstanding.

“He knows he’s a good football player. He knows he’s needed. What he needs to understand is to play within the system and the scheme. Don’t do anything more than what we’re asking you to.

“Just be yourself.

“That’s when he’s going to have his best games. And if a team’s going to take two, three guys to try and take him out of the game then we’ve got other players that can step up.

“Keep it unselfish, keep your poise and play ball.”

The Stampeders are aiming for a substantial upgrade in overall performance on the last time the two teams locked horns, a 29-21 Bomber victory on Oct. 26 in Winnipeg.

“We’ve really taken time to look at ourselves,’’ promised Johnson. “Not taking nothing away from them, man, but we were making too many mistakes.

“Guys out of gaps. Guys trying to do too much. We took turns, D-line, linebackers, secondary.

“We’ve really just been focusing on just doing your job, execute and trust the guy next to you.

“If everybody just does their job, we’ll be fine.”