John Henry Johnson

John Henry Johnson (November 24, 1929 – June 3, 2011) was an American professional football player who played fullback. After college football with the St. Mary's Gaels and the Arizona State Sun Devils, he was selected in the second round of the 1953 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers, 18th overall. Rather than report to Pittsburgh, he played one season of Canadian football in the Western Interprovincial Football Union (a forerunner league to today's Canadian Football League) with the Calgary Stampeders, where he won the Jeff Nicklin Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player.

Johnson then signed with the San Francisco 49ers, playing left halfback in the team's famed "Million Dollar Backfield." He was later traded to the Detroit Lions, and afterward played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the National Football League. He spent his final season in the American Football League with the Houston Oilers.

Commonly referred to simply as John Henry, an allusion to the folk hero of the same name, Johnson was a tough and tenacious player who performed at a high level well into the tail end of his career.