TO THOSE WHO knew him best, Michael Johnson was more than just a baseball player.

To many, he was an inspiration. One of his former teammates recently compared him to some of the state’s greatest athletes like Deuce McAllister, Archie Manning and Jerry Rice.

“They have shown the world grit and perseverance, an unparalleled affinity for hard work, and an unrelenting will to do the right thing and be a role model,” Jonathan Weiner, a former teammate and friend, wrote in a recent letter to Jackson City Councilwoman Margaret Barrett-Simon.

“So it was with Michael. He was a true leader who could be counted on to do the right thing when it mattered most.” Now, Wiener and several of his teammates are stepping up for Michael, who was killed by a drunk driver on June 3, 2005, a week after graduating from Murrah High School.

Through their efforts, they hope that Michael, who was known as “Mikey” to many, will continue to be an inspiration for generations of athletes to come. Wiener, along with some of his former teammates from Murrah, have asked the city council to rename the field where they played in his honor.

The council is now mulling over an ordinance to rename the Lakeland Senior Baseball Field the Michael D. Johnson Field. At its September 9 meeting, council members voted unanimously to move the issue to the planning committee for further consideration, Barrett-Simon said.



THE PLANNING committee will decide on whether to send it the planning and zoning department, where officials will write up a description of the property and submit it to the council to set a public hearing.

“I was impressed with the fact that his former teammates wanted to honor him in this way,” she said. “I was happy I could bring it before the council and I hope it will be adopted.” Simon said the issue is different from previous ordinances, because usually there are requests made to rename streets or buildings.

“The property doesn’t have any neighbors and is public land that serves the high school,” she said. A sign saying the field is home to the Murrah Mustangs sits outside the field and a baseball with Michael Johnson’s name and number are posted behind home plate.

Clinton Johnson, principal at Callaway High School, said renaming the field is a fitting tribute to his nephew. “Mikey, that’s what we called him, was a super kid, a great all-around guy,” he said. “It’s still tough to talk about it.”

The family had big aspirations for Mikey, who signed a scholarship his senior year to play baseball at Co-Lin Community College. “We were really looking forward to seeing him develop as a young man,” Johnson said. “He played baseball all his life; we knew he’d be in the major leagues.”

Mikey’s athletic abilities were well known in Jackson. In addition to being an outstanding shortstop, the 5’9” 19-year-old was also starting point guard for the Murrah Mustangs basketball team.

He scored the decisive free throws in the final seconds of the 2005 Mississippi 5A State Championship, Wiener said, “bringing the Golden Ball back to Murrah for the first time in many years.”

But Michael’s future was dashed in the early morning hours of June 3. According to interviews with his friends and family, the teenager was turning onto North State Street from Capitol Street when he was hit by a drunk driver. Those who knew Michael can remember the incident like it was yesterday.

Emmett Johnson, Michael’s father, remembers speaking to his son on his cell phone shortly before the accident. Michael told his dad that he was going to pick up a pizza on the way home. Clinton Johnson remembers going to batting practice with his semi-pro team the day before.

And Wiener, who was then going to school in Massachusetts, remembers when he got the news.

“That morning I went to a friend’s graduation,” Wiener said. “When I turned on my cell phone, there was a flood of voice mails and text messages. I called the voice mail and the first message was from a friend who told me what had happened. Everyone has dealt with loss, but this was unexpected.”

WIENER PLAYED baseball with Michael most of his young life. The two were on the same team with the North Jackson Youth Baseball League and played with him for three years in high school.

Trey Johnson, a senior at Jackson State University, was one of the last people to see Michael alive. “I was saying my prayers in my room when he opened the door and made a joke,” he said. “He told me, 選 got to go, man.’ He told me 選 love you’ and gave me a hug.

“He never told me that before,” Johnson said. “I thought it was strange.”

Johnson, who just finished up the season with the National Basketball Association’s development league, recently went to Phoenix to try out for the Phoenix Suns basketball team. He still has those mementos from Michael’s life on the dashboard of his green Chevy Tahoe.

He recently displayed those items, a flower from his funeral and a baseball cap with Michael’s high school number on it, during a visit to the Lakeland ball field. During his senior year, he had a chance to play with his cousin on the Murrah Mustangs baseball team.

“We were first cousins, but we were also best friends,” he said. “My senior year was my best year ever because I got a chance to play with my cousin.”