MacArthur’s newest inside linebacker, Ronnie Johnson, prepares to swarm the ball during a practice earlier this month. Johnson has had to experience and overcome plenty of adversity throughout his life, including living in a foster home at a young age.
Regardless of what issues Ronnie Johnson deals with on a daily basis, when he puts his headphones on, there is one song that helps him escape the chaos of life.
The song is “Who I Do It For” by YFN Lucci. It has such an impact on him because the lyrics the artist sings directly relate to Johnson and the life he had growing up.
“Basically he says who he does it for, why he shines the way he does and how he grinds the way he does,” Johnson said. “He tells you about where he came from and how he had it rough. He didn’t have it too good growing up, and I relate to him so much, it’s like I know him.
“It helps me keep my mind straight. If I get mad or anything, I can just play that one song and it’ll all be cool. I gotta listen to that every day.”
Johnson didn’t have the childhood many kids enjoy.
Living in the luxuries of middle class suburbia was just a distant dream. His father was thrown in prison when Johnson was only 6 months old, and his mother abandoned him and his little brother when he was a young elementary student.
Before long, Johnson found himself in a foster home with no family. But just when it seemed the hopes of a normal childhood were lost, his aunt, Angie James, stepped up and gave him the life he so desperately sought.
She turned a nightmare into a blessing, something Johnson said he is forever grateful for. She has also played a big role in his development as a person, making sure he stays on the right path as he navigates through school.
“I don’t call her my aunt, I call her my mom because she took me and my brother in when nobody else wanted us,” Johnson said. “We were in and out of the foster home, and she was the first one to come out of everyone in the family. We have family members who stay here, but she’s the only one who took us in. She showed me love and bought me everything I have — clothes, school supplies. We didn’t have anything. I only had one pair of shoes, and I didn’t really have any clothes. I had to wear the same clothes and same draws every day.”
Even when his uncle, Stacey James, passed away when Johnson was in 5th grade, Angie James was there, along with Johnson’s cousins, Deion James — who is now a MacArthur freshman football coach — and Jordan Nix.
All have left a positive influence on Johnson, which just adds to his personal list of who he does it for.
“When I’m not around football, hanging around my cousins is the best,” Johnson said. “They keep my mind into it instead of letting my mind go off and do other things.”
Despite the struggles his family has dealt with, reconciliation doesn’t seem to be out of the question.
Johnson’s father is now out of prison and pursuing an education, and his mother returned to Lawton last year.
“Me and my dad have a better relationship now,” Johnson said. “He got his bachelor’s degree, and he’s working on his master’s now in psychology. My mom moved to the city, and she was there for nine years and then she came back last year. That’s what shocked me because I hadn’t seen her in nine years, and I walked in and saw her sitting on the couch. It brought back a lot of memories and messed with my head.”
The adversity Johnson has experienced has also helped him on the football field.
Johnson started on the MacArthur defense last season as a nose guard, but he will be playing inside linebacker this year.
Highlanders coach Brett Manning was in need of a new inside linebacker, and Johnson fit the bill perfectly. Manning said the move also made sense because it helped Johnson utilize his size to a greater degree.
“We needed people at inside backer,” Manning said. “Keylan Murray tore his ACL in the spring, so we’re without him, and we lost Chandler Green last year. (Johnson) is one of the guys who’s really stepped up and done a good job.”
Johnson said the switch has its benefits as well.
As a nose guard, Johnson was always the last lineman in his stance before each play because he preferred to read the formation of opposing offenses. At linebacker, that task has become much simpler.
“Linebacker is easy, and I don’t have to bend down. I can read and react and know where the ball is at easier and get there faster. I like it way better, and I can hit people harder.”
Johnson said making the switch to linebacker took some getting used to, but he is satisfied with the improvement he’s made at the position.
“The thing about being a linebacker, you can’t have any hesitation,” Johnson said. “You have to be patient, and you have to be at the line. You have to read your keys, read the guards and read the back, and now that I know that, linebacker is way easier now. All I gotta do is take that as an advantage. Going into the first game — I don’t mean to sound cocky — but I know I’m going to be there. Wherever the ball is, that’s where I’m going to be.”
The change was something Johnson didn’t mind doing for his coaches because of the role models they have become in his life. He looks up to them, and when he’s on the football field giving his all, he’s not only doing it for his family, but for his coaches as well.
“Since we went to the senior retreat, we have a way bigger connection,” Johnson said. “Now they know me. They knew me before, but they didn’t know my past. I told all the seniors, too, and now that they know me, they know why I act the way I do. I look at all the coaches as father figures. I have their back, and I know they have my back.”
So when Johnson sits down and listens to “Who I Do It For”, there is quite a list to run down. After all, he has so many people to thank.
Johnson has everything going for him, including a successful football career and a good education. If he has his way, Johnson wants to play football at the next level while majoring in either communications or massage therapy.
A kid who had nothing now has the keys to a prosperous future. When all is said and done, Johnson hopes he can give back to all those who helped him along his way.
That’s who he does it for.
“We’re going through it right now, but I’m doing this so we can be straight,” Johnson said.