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The Miami
Vol. 88, Issue 15 | March 11 - March 24, 2010
HURRICANE STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI IN CORAL O RA RAL G GA GABLES, A BL BLE ES S , FFL FLORIDA, LO OR R IID DA A,, S SINCE 1929
He’s back NFL wide receiver Andre Johnson returns to his roots at UM, plans to finish his liberal arts degree BY CHRISTINA DE NICOLA MANAGING EDITOR
L
ike any other day, Karen Johnson picked up her son Andre from his football practice at Miami Senior High School and began cooking dinner. Rated the No. 3 receiver in the country by The Sporting News, Andre was looking over recruiting letters from universities such as Miami and Southern California, while his mom stood alone in the kitchen and suddenly heard a voice. “It was like somebody was on the side of me whispering in my ear saying, ‘Go tell Andre that if he goes to the University of Miami he will win a national championship,’” she said. “A couple of nights later, we were heading to dinner with UM, and Andre said, ‘I think I’m going to go to UM. And maybe two years later, we’ll win the national championship.’” Three years later, as a redshirt sophomore, that’s exactly what Andre Johnson did when he earned co-MVP at the 2002 Rose Bowl. The following season, after catching 52 passes for 1,092 yards and a team-high nine touchdowns, Johnson and the Hurricanes lost in the national title game to Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl. He and redshirt sophomore running
back Willis McGahee were early draftees on a team that sent eight players to the National Football League. Johnson was selected third overall by the Houston Texans in the 2003 NFL Draft. When he made the decision to leave and pursue his professional football career, his mom had one condition: Johnson would come back to finish his degree. Seven years later, the 6-foot-3, 228-pound football player stayed true to his word and enrolled for the 2010 spring semester. “It was just something I always wanted to do,” he said. “I always told my mom that if I left school early, I’d come back and finish. So I just felt like it was time to come back and get it done.”
SEE JOHNSON, PAGE 17
REVENGE OF THE WALKERS ALL THOSE BIKE RIDERS SURE DO GET ANNOYING SOMETIMES PAGE 9
SPRING BREAK MIAMI STYLE STUCK IN THE CITY? MAKE THE MOST OF THE WEEK AND GO EXPLORE PAGE 11 PHOTO BY BRITTNEY BOMNIN