By LARRY VAUGHT

Now that his academic and health issues are behind him, senior offensive lineman Christian Johnson is ready to help Kentucky win again.
He had to redshirt last season after starting games both in 2006 and 2007. Now he’s hoping to regain a starting spot at guard once he drops his weight to 320 or less, something he’s confident he can do.
“It is going to be a long process to get my job back. Even when I came back this past season (to practice), I was on the scout team. I didn’t get any regular reps with the first team. So it is like starting over. I am going to try and work my butt off and I know the coaches are going to let the best person play. Any way I can help the team out, that’s my plan,” said Johnson.
Physical play

He could give UK needed physical play in the line, something that was missing at times last year.
“ I don’t want to make it sound like I am the most physical person, but I guess I am the biggest guy on the line so it would seem that I would be more physical,” Johnson said. “I think they missed my personality and probably my toughness. I try to be mean, so I guess you could say they missed my physical play. I think they did well without me, though.”
So can he add some toughness this year?
“I always try to. I don’t know what it is, but I feel the offensive linemen should be some of the nastiest people on the field,” Johnson said. “We are in the trenches and are head butting and fighting every play. You have to be a mean person.
“You can’t do it being soft and not being mean. So that’s what I try to do. I try to be mean and get in scuffles on the field and stuff like that just to wake people up. I feel like the tougher we are, the better we will be on Saturdays.”
He has also convinced himself that even though he doesn’t agree with why he missed last year, it may have actually helped him.
“If I would not have sat out last year, then I would not have graduated. Now I am set up to graduate right after football season. I will be able to get my degree and be able to finish with my younger brother (Micah). It is another year of maturity and another year just to be around my friends. That’s not a bad thing,” Johnson, a family studies major, said.
Not all his fault

Still, he feels like his academic woes were  not all his fault.
“I am just going to be honest as I look back on it. I messed up by not going to the class. But at the end of the situation, it was our teacher’s fault,” he said. “What happened with the test and my accommodations (because he has ADD) I am supposed to get, he did not give me my accommodations. It’s my legal right to have my accommodations. I took the test (in class) and should have got them and he didn’t give them to me.
“The whole school sat back and let it happen. Nobody had me back. My mom even got a lawyer and even with that, it did not go my way. But God is in control of everything. I am not even mad about it any more.”
Of course, it took some time to get over the pain of not getting the special considerations he says he was entitled to on his exam.
“Honestly it took a long time before I just let it go. My mom was still trying to get the lawyer to take this case to the appeals court, but I said, ‘Mom, the more I do this, the more it is on my back.’ So I let it go and decided to retake another biology class so I could get that credit. Everything is fine now,” he said.
“It was a school deal. There was nothing the football coaches could do to help. I felt bad because I thought I let everybody down last year. The coaches really weren’t talking to me. I had a lot of ground to make up in the spring, and still do.
“I was in the dog hole with a lot of the coaches. I just want them to get that faith back in me. I honestly think some of the coaches probably don’t even like me at times last year. But I want to turn that around. There was really nothing they could do about but sit back and watch.”
Back woes

Even without the academic issues, he might not have been able to play because he had two herniated back discs.
“I was doing physical therapy and thought I was going to have to do the surgery because it was not getting better. My parents told me to keep doing the therapy and coach (Rich) Brooks told me surgery should be the last option,” he said. “My back was real bad. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t sit down in class for that long. I had to stand up. It was all messed up. The physical therapists really helped me.
“That’s the crazy part about it. Even if I had been eligible, my back still probably would have made me sit out. That helped me put last year behind me.”
Johnson got to play more in spring practice than he originally anticipated because injuries left the offensive line thin on depth. However, he also realized he had to shed weight after reaching almost 350 pounds. He’s at about 330 pounds today.
“The biggest thing is that I had to lose weight to get the pressure off my back. There are some things I don’t do in the weight room now to prevent any more problems with my back. But I am confident my back will hold up perfectly this year,” Johnson said.
He also got a boost mentally in spring practice when he felt like the promised son returning from exile. By the time spring drills ended, he could tell the UK coaches had regained confidence in him.
“They do have faith in me and still do expect contributions from me on the field. It makes me feel like I can still be a good player and right some of my wrongs,” he said.
“This could be a huge year. I want it to be a big year not just for myself, but for the team also. I want to help out a lot. I am leaving with my younger brother. I think it will be big for us to play together and I want us to go out on one of the best teams UK has ever had.”

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