The New Orleans Saints lost a great member of the black and gold this week, after former linebacker Vaughan Johnson passed away after battling kidney disease. He was 57, and is survived by his wife and children.
Johnson was a key piece of the famous “Dome Patrol” Saints defenses of the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, having played alongside Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Rickey Jackson, Pat Swilling, and the late Sam Mills. Johnson represented the Saints in four Pro Bowl appearances, including the 1992 Pro Bowl in which all four linebackers were invited — the only time it’s happened in the history of the NFL’s all-star game.
Having starred at North Carolina State in college, Johnson was initially drafted not by the NFL, but by the then-competitor United States Football Legaue, joining the Jacksonville Bulls in 1984. The Saints claimed his rights in the NFL’s supplemental draft of USFL and Canadian Football League players, and he signed with New Orleans after the USFL folded in 1986.
While Jackson was the unquestioned star of the group and Swilling the most athletically-gifted, Mills and Johnson were the glue and no-nonsense pros who kept the group together. Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio was the Saints’ linebackers coach during the “Dome Patrol” era, and he described Johnson to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen as, “He was a great teammate, loved by everyone. He was a ferocious hitter and great all around ILB. And feared by the RBs in the league when he played. Ask Roger Craig.”
Johnson was remembered by other peers like Hall of Fame kicker Morten Andersen, who praised the linebacker’s kind nature off the field and ferocity during games in equal measure. Andersen bid his old teammate farewell and asked that Johnson greet Mills, who died in 2005, when they meet again.
Kind and gentle off the field ferocious and tough on the field one of the greatest ever is gone love you Vaughn Johnson say hi to Sam Mills
— Morten Andersen (@GreatDane2544) December 13, 2019
It’s a sad day for the Who Dat Nation. But it doesn’t have to be. Johnson created many memories for long-time Saints fans, and it’s past time for the Saints to recognize their contributions. Late owner Tom Benson and living legend Steve Gleason have bronze statues in their likeness outside the Superdome, and an effigy of Mills guards the Carolina Panthers’ stadium (his second team) to this day. Renovations are already planned for the Superdome, set to begin in 2020; wouldn’t it be great if statues of Johnson, Mills, Swilling, and Jackson joined them to greet fans someday, sooner rather than later?
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