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Eagles' OT, former Sooner Lane Johnson gives back to juco

The former Oklahoma Sooner got the grand tour Thursday of Kilgore College's new Lane Johnson Performance Center
John E. Hoover|
Eagles' OT, former Sooner Lane Johnson gives back to juco
Eagles' OT, former Sooner Lane Johnson gives back to juco

If you’re Lane Johnson, the only thing better than having a good time is getting back to your roots.

Johnson, the Pro Bowl offensive tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles and former Oklahoma Sooner, pledged $500,000 last year to his junior college alma mater, and on Thursday saw exactly what a half million dollars buys in Kilgore, TX.

Kilgore College staged a grand opening for the Lane Johnson Performance Center — “The Lane,” it’s called — a new state of the art athletic center facility.

"It means a whole lot to the people around that can really utilize it," Johnson said.

Johnson, 30, toured the new facility, which is centered around a spacious new weight room and includes a trophy-case tribute to Johnson’s time at Kilgore, and also took time to speak to the team.

Johnson, a native of Groveton, TX, went to Kilgore in 2008 to play quarterback, but eventually moved to tight end. Oklahoma recruited the 6-foot-6 Johnson at that position in 2009, but then moved him to defensive end in 2010 before finally switching him back to offense in 2011, where he became an All-Big 12 performer at right tackle.

He was the No. 4 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft, signed a four-year, $19.85 million contract, then in 2016 signed a six-year, $63 million extension that made him the highest-paid right tackle in the game. After the Eagles won the Super Bowl following the 2018 season, Johnson in 2019 signed a four-year, $72 million contract.

Johnson became as popular with Eagles fans for his outgoing personality and fun-loving approach as he did for his punishing blocks. During the Eagles' run to the Super Bowl, he and several teammates frequently wore rubber dog masks to portray their underdog mentality.

Johnson said he hopes the new facility can help Kilgore build more elite players.

“You get here, man, there's a lot of hungry people,” he said. “It's survival of the fittest, people working their tails off.”

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John E. Hoover
JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.

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