CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – Former Rossview High School running back and Clarksville native Isaiah Johnson signed with the Canadian Football League (CFL) Thursday, Sept. 5 and was added to the Ottawa Redblacks practice roster Monday.

The 22-year-old Johnson chronicled his journey to becoming a professional athlete and how it was those closest to him that helped shape him into the man and football player that he is today.

“I had two older brothers that played football before me,” Johnson said. “They kind of gave me the steps to take and steps not to take. I learned that family is great to have and it’s always just good to have close friends around you, and sports did all of that for me. No matter what I did, they always had my back.”

When Johnson reflects back on his career as a Hawk, it’s the ones that he broke the huddle with that he remembers the most.

“It would be my teammates,” Johnson responded. “The team that I had my junior year was my favorite team that I’ve ever been a part of in my entire life. The brotherhood and the comradery we had there was just unbelievable. Everybody not only got along, but we did everything together. It was a bond that I’ve never been a part of as long as I’ve been playing football.”

As his high school playing career came to a close, Johnson exited Rossview High School as the all-time leading rusher and career touchdown leader with 4,040 yards and 43 touchdowns.

“Being the all-time leading rusher definitely came down to them caring for me more so than anything else,” Johnson said. “They wanted me to get that record and everybody was so supportive of it including my coaches. Without them it definitely wouldn’t have happened.”

Upon graduation, Johnson decided to go the junior-college route and attend Moorpark College in sunny southern California.

“My experience there was unbelievable,” Johnson described. “It was a beautiful city and the coaching staff there was amazing. It was 45 minutes from Los Angeles and it was really like a dream come true to be able to play some football in California. It was an opportunity that I definitely don’t regret taking. They invested in me and made me a freshman captain when I got there.”

While at Moorpark College, interest from Division I schools continued to pour in for Johnson, who ultimately made the decision to transfer to Eastern Illinois University in hopes of becoming another Panther success story, similar to the likes of Sean Payton, Tony Romo and Jimmy Garoppollo.

“The first offer I had while I was at Moorpark was from San Jose St.,” Johnson said. “Later that year, one of the coaches informed me that the coaching staff had been fired and the offer I had had been pulled. I talked to Boise State for a while, but they ended up going with a high school running back who had a pretty good year. The recruiting process had fell silent for a little while and then Eastern Illinois called me and I looked up their schedule and saw they had three games in Tennessee. It was just a little over three hours away from home and I was a little homesick at the time from being gone all of those years. I saw the opportunity and pulled the trigger on it.”

In his final year at EIU, the Clarksville native rushed for a season-high 187 yards and three touchdowns against his hometown college Austin Peay State University.

“That was a great moment,” Johnson said. “My junior year, we went to Clarksville and they beat us. I had a lot of people show up and I had a good game, but we didn’t get the W so it wasn’t the best feeling. To be able to finish the season off with them and have all those yards my senior year was great. I remember after my third touchdown my head coach came up to me and was like, ‘aren’t you glad you took this offer instead of theirs?’ It was good to get the last laugh against a team from Clarksville.”

Johnson wasn’t finished there as he went on to cap off his senior year in style, racking up multiple MVP awards in postseason bowl games.

“I remember my first one was in an FCS national bowl,” Johnson said. “Going up there I felt like it would help add to my resume. Whenever I had that game up there, I was like ‘alright I can definitely compete with these guys.’ It meant a lot and put me on the route I wanted to be on. The FBS bowl really just gave me reassurance in my ability and that I can compete with the big-time schools.”

Despite going undrafted in the 2019 NFL Draft, Johnson wouldn’t have to wait by the phone long before receiving an invitation to join the Buffalo Bills in minicamp.

“I went up there for a week and competed with T.J. Yeldon, Frank Gore, their third-round draft pick Devin Singletary and this European rugby star Christian Wade,” Johnson said. “They were all some pretty good athletes. It was definitely fun being up there. I thought they were going to pull the trigger on me because I was really competing with those guys. I left it all on the table and didn’t have any regrets up there. Obviously, they had guys with more history in the league and hype, so I got the reality that it might not happen, but at the same time what I did there I felt like it could’ve happened. I remember the offensive coordinator had a team meeting and was just phrasing my effort without having the ball in my hands and all that good stuff. I thought I was there, but it just didn’t work out that way.”

The CFL came calling shortly after Johnson’s final year at EIU as the Ottawa Redblacks were keen on the 6-foot-one 215-pound ballcarrier.

“They were definitely one of the first professional teams to reach out to me,” Johnson said. “My agent had called me a week after my pro day and was telling me that the Ottawa Redblacks had my negotiation rights. It meant that they were the only team in the CFL that could talk to me and wanted me to come up there. The assistant general manager was pretty impressed with my tape and it felt good to have that as a back-up plan. Whenever they actually called me, sent me emails and booked my flight I was like, ‘wow it’s actually real’.”

Now that becoming a professional football player has set in for Johnson, it’s back to business as usual when it comes to showcasing his all-around skillset.

“I definitely want to accomplish the standard of being a workhorse here,” Johnson said. “Just be able to do the same thing here that I’ve done everywhere else. I’ve had some good practices lately, so I feel it could definitely work out given the opportunity.”

Johnson will look to make his debut for the Redblacks against the BC Lions Saturday, Sept. 21 in Ottawa.