New York Giants Official Website

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ - For players on the roster bubble, cutdown day in the NFL can be a strange and nerve-wracking experience. Getting a phone call is usually bad news. Hearing nothing is often a good sign.

It was for Bruce Johnson. The Giants' rookie cornerback never got the dreaded call Saturday to tell him he'd been cut. He came to the Timex Performance Center believing no news was good news. After crossing paths with Tom Coughlin, his hopes were confirmed.

"I came into the training room to get some treatment and (Coughlin) came in and asked me how I was doing," Johnson said. "I let him know and he wanted to know if he could trust me this week to play. I told him yeah, and he left. He didn't ask me any more questions."

Just like that, Johnson had become perhaps the unlikeliest member of the Giants' 53-man roster as the team sets its sights on the regular season opener Sunday vs. the Washington Redskins. Although Johnson played well at a renowned football school, the University of Miami, he was not drafted. When he joined the Giants he found four young veteran corners - Corey Webster, Aaron Ross, Kevin Dockery and Terrell Thomas - plus draft choices DeAndre Wright and Stoney Woodson ahead of him.

But Webster and Ross missed much of training camp with injuries, and Johnson got enough reps to prove he is a talented and capable player - or better.

"Every time I look around, Bruce is doing something right, something good or something spectacular," secondary-cornerbacks coach Peter Giunta said in camp.

He did it often enough that Wright and Woodson were eventually waived and Johnson remains as the only rookie free agent on the roster. Despite what might have seemed liked daunting odds, Johnson said he never felt like a long shot.

"Not really, because I knew coming in I had talent," Johnson said. "I just knew I had to put it on display and show it, put it on film. That was my main goal coming into camp and I accomplished that so far. But I have a lot of more steps to go."

Johnson is 5-11 and 182 pounds. At 21 years of age, he is the second youngest on the team with WR Hakeem Nicks only 20 years old.

But Johnson can play. He was named the District Player of the Year as a senior at Suwannee High School in Live Oak, Fla., where he was a top defensive back and wide receiver. Johnson chose Miami over Auburn and Clemson and in four years he played in 42 games with 23 starts.

Johnson's career totals included 74 tackles (57 solo), two interceptions and 14 pass breakups. As a senior in 2008, started 11 of the 12 games in which he played and finished with 29 tackles (24 solo). Johnson thought his cover ability, athleticism and production would get him drafted. But his name was never called.

"I kind of did expect to get drafted, but I know that it's the draft and stuff happens," Johnson said. "So I wasn't really surprised by not getting drafted, because I know it's a tossup. It's the NFL, so that just gave me more motivation wherever I went to come in and play my heart out and just do what I know how to do."

As soon as the draft concluded, Johnson heard from several teams. Most of them wanted him to tryout at a rookie camp.

"Then the Giants called me and said they were going to sign me," Johnson said. "So I took that and ran with it."

He hasn't stopped since. Johnson was impossible to ignore from the beginning of training camp, where he blanketed receivers, intercepted or knocked down numerous passes and quickly grasped the Giants' defense.

"It's not more complicated (than the defense he played at Miami), you just have to know what you are doing," he said. "The talent level is different, but here everybody is the same, everybody is great. Learning the playbook was not anything difficult to me, because they harp on it so much that it's like second nature. Now I just have to know how to perfect it instead of just playing off of raw talent."

Johnson had five tackles in the preseason, but more importantly, Johnson demonstrated he can play at this level. There is no guarantee he will play - or even be in uniform - for the Redskins game, but his summer experience left him confident he can contribute if called upon.

"I feel like I had a pretty good camp," Johnson said. "I know there are a lot of things I could have improved on, but overall I think coming in for a rookie I did pretty well."

But he still sweated out cut down day. Johnson believed he had done enough to make the team, but it's like the draft - uncertainty reigns.

"I knew when I was coming into camp there were a lot of guys in front of me; I had drafted players in front of me," Johnson said. "I knew I just had to keep working and when the cut time was coming, it's a toss up and you never know. I was basically just waiting on the phone seeing what was happening. Thank Jesus that they didn't call me.

"I was glad not to get a call. I was very fortunate and very happy. I was humbled by it, so I'm just going to keep working."

It got him this far.