A Real Green Thumb

from College Times - December 2021

Repping Phoenix

STUDENT LIFE When Brian Johnson played baseball in high school, something was different about him. With no offi cial A REAL GREEN THUMB LONGTIME ASU GROUNDSKEEPER HANGING UP SHOVEL ZAKKARY BROG • COLLEGE TIMES Mankato State (now known as Minnesota State) and earned a degree in recreation. During a spring break trip in 1978, he traveled to Arizona to spend time with a brother and attend MLB Spring Training. He was in awe of the Valley’s fi elds. groundskeeper “I did an internship at ASU taking working for the care of all the athletic fi elds,” he says. team, the players “When that internship ended, they were responsible for maintaining had a full-time position open up at and cleaning the fi eld. While some the baseball stadium. So, really, ASU worked to just get it out of the way, is the only place I’ve ever worked as Johnson reveled in it. a professional in my whole life.”

“I was the one guy who stayed Johnson spent 12 years working longer to make sure everything looked on the baseball fi eld at Packard perfect,” Johnson says of Gilbert. Stadium, before eventually moving

“It’s just always been in my blood over to Sun Devil Stadium. Now, he’s to be a groundskeeper. I wanted to responsible for all athletic fi elds. make sure when we showed up the With that responsibility comes next day for practice or for a game an attachment to his work. When that the fi eld looked nice.” Arizona Wildcat players decided

With hundreds of sporting events to destroy part of the midfi eld logo under his belt as a professional with their cleats before the 2019 groundskeeper, Johnson has become Territorial Cup, Johnson took it one of the most respected names personally. of the craft. Thanksgiving week he “I take it personally when our own announced his retirement. fans rush the fi eld after a big win,”

But that acclaim didn’t come Johnson says. “If I’m going to be overnight. Following that spark he upset at our own fans, I’m going to felt in high school, Johnson attended be even more so at a visiting team. PHOTO • DAVID MINTON/STAFF Arizona State University Athletic Grounds Facilities Manager Brian Johnson stands on the turf of Frank Kush Field at Sun Devil Stadium. He recently announced his retirement. I was going to go out there and try to prevent that. But, I got a little bit busy and didn’t really see it happen because things were going smooth during pregame warmups. “There are 90,000 square feet out there, and they decided to do their little huddle before going to the locker room right on the logo. Chunks of sod were fl ying, and that really did upset me. We’re planning on doing that logo again. I’m sure I’ll be out there on the fi eld all pregame and not letting anything like that happen again.” When he was promoted to work on that fi eld, Johnson only worked for the Sun Devils. During the Cardinals’ tenure at Sun Devil Stadium, he helped paint the fi eld. Late in the 1995 NFL season, he came to work unaware that he was about to face the toughest task of his professional life. “George Toma, a groundskeeping legend, came down for a Cardinals game to check out the fi eld,” Johnson recalls. “I remember that I was painting the trimmer on the Cardinal letters in the endzone. I knew who he was, but he didn’t know who I was. He just walked up to me and didn’t say a word, crossed his arms, and watched me trim each letter. He would just follow me down the whole end zone, not saying a word. I thought that I was doing a good job, but he didn’t

PHOTO • COURTESY OF BRIAN JOHNSON Brian Johnson adds the fi nishing touches to the end zone at Sun Devil Stadium. say anything. But when I fi nished, he said, ‘Hey, nice job painting, son. Can you help us for the Super Bowl?’” It was Johnson’s fi rst foray into the NFL, and it wouldn’t be his last. He’s worked on the grounds crew for over 20 Super Bowls and a multitude of international games. Johnson isn’t resting on his laurels. Whether it’s a 20th anniversary tribute to those who lost their lives in the 9/11 terrorist attacks or an Arizona state fl ag pattern spanning the entirety of the playing fi eld, he’s ambitious. “Because they’re a special design, during the week we have to run a bunch of strings and tape measures and hand-brush everything,” Johnson says. “It is a bit of work during the week, but I really like the fact that we’re known for that. People make comments quite often about all of our fi eld designs. It helps ASU stand out and show some creativity instead of just doing the same fi eld week after week.” Johnson still has one dream job. “If I could paint the lines for a World Cup fi nal or a Champions League fi nal, that would be great,” he says. “I’m a Bayern Munich fan, so if they were to make it to another fi nal and I could be there, paint the fi eld for the game, watch them win it, hoist the trophy up in the air, that would be it.” CT