From the challenges of growing up in one of the toughest areas on Detroit’s east side and losing his father early in life, Desjuan Johnson beamed with a heart and smile aglow amid the showering of gifts and proclamations during the recent Irrelevant Week festivities in Newport Beach.
“I’m blessed,” Johnson said on multiple occasions during the Lowsman Trophy Banquet at the Cannery Restaurant, where this year’s honoree, the last pick of the NFL draft at No. 259 by the Los Angeles Rams, was awarded the Lowsman Trophy with a backdrop of yachts on the waterfront and glitz and glamour throughout the facility.
“Desjuan has lived a hard life and for his family to help get him here has been nothing but love, because he comes from a city vacant of love,” his uncle, Roland Stegar, said atop a beautiful yacht overlooking Lido Village as part of a seven-member entourage, before his nephew made a grand entrance June 26 to be honored, roasted and toasted as the 48th Mr. Irrelevant.
“Desjuan has been provided with a lot of love to get him to this level, and you can see the love that has been poured into him, especially from his mother (Lacresia),” Stegar added.
Johnson’s father, Dion, a former defensive tackle at Kansas with dreams of playing in the NFL, was tragically killed in 2004 at age 23, when Desjuan was 4 years old. “Desjuan, I remember him saying, ‘So this means I don’t have a dad no more?’ It was so heartbreaking,” his mother said.
For his fifth birthday, his mother asked Desjuan what he wanted, and without hesitation Desjuan replied: “I want to play football.”
Johnson went from being chased by older boys on the hard-scrabble football fields in Detroit’s toughest neighborhood to becoming a defensive lineman at the University of Toledo who terrorized quarterbacks in the Mid-American Conference.
And now, upon signing a four-year contract with the Rams, Johnson could become the heir apparent to All-Pro defensive tackle Aaron Donald.
Several former NFL players were in attendance to wish Johnson well and provide encouragement, while Orange County Register sportswriter Steve Fryer announced Johnson’s height (6-foot-3), weight (275 pounds), personal data and football numbers and facts at Toledo, including 65 total tackles and 16.5 tackles for loss in helping the Rockets to a 9-5 record in 2022 and victory over Liberty in the Boca Raton Bowl. Johnson also had 5.5 sacks and one interception on his way to earning first-team All-MAC.
On the third and final day of the 2023 NFL draft, it wasn’t originally supposed to be the Rams’ selection to take the 259th and last pick. But they traded the 167th pick to the Houston Texans for the 174th and the final selection.
“We need some defensive linemen – you don’t win with just one guy,” said former Rams quarterback Vince Ferragamo, referring to Donald.
Johnson was awarded the Lowsman Trophy, the so-called cousin to the Heisman Trophy, by 2003 Mr. Irrelevant Ryan Hoag.
“Desjuan, you are now one of only 48,” Hoag said in presenting the award. “There are 84 Heisman winners, but only 48 Lowsmans. The only difference is the Lowsman Trophy has the player fumbling the ball with a credulous look on his face.”
The emcee of the event was Southern California sportscaster John Ireland, the voice of the Lakers and co-host of a daily afternoon program on ESPN Radio.
“We look at (the Lowsman Trophy) as a good-luck charm,” Ireland said. “It only works if the (honoree) lets us have fun.”
A few of the most notable Mr. Irrelevant selections of the past include 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, All-Pro kicker Ryan Succop, defensive back Michael Green, linebacker Tae Crowder and linebacker Marty Moore.
“It’s just an honor for me to be here,” Johnson said at the podium.
Johnson’s mother, Lacresia Stegar, was asked what she thought about her son being honored as Mr. Irrelevant.
“I think that he was well-deserving of it,” she said. “And I love it here. I don’t want to go home.”
Richard Dunn, a longtime sportswriter, writes the Dunn Deal column regularly for The Orange County Register’s weekly, The Coastal Current North.