Bret Johnson Still Bitter Toward UCLA

He transferred from UCLA in a huff after losing his starting position and the critics took aim, suggesting that a teething ring and bib would suit quarterback Bret Johnson better than a mouthpiece and shoulder pads.

Nine months later, spring practice has ended at Michigan State, where Johnson landed seeking fame and, he says, fairness.

So far, there has been no ceremony in East Lansing to anoint him as the starter. Indeed, the depth chart says none of the Spartans' four quarterbacks is the clear-cut No. 1. Somebody will have to earn it in the weeks before the opener Sept. 14 against Central Michigan.

If that sounds similar to the situation Johnson fled in Westwood, at least before Tommy Maddox emerged, Johnson said he doesn't mind.

"I couldn't see myself being a happy person at UCLA," Johnson said. "Here, if I'm the starter or if I'm not the starter, I'll still be happy, because I like it here. If I don't start, it wasn't for any other reason than I was beat out."

That was the crux of his beef with UCLA. The Bruins went 3-7-1 in 1989 with Johnson starting every game as a redshirt freshman. The following spring and summer, Johnson claimed, the coaches strung him along, leading him to believe he had a chance to remain the starting quarterback.

Then, three days into preseason practice, before a single workout in pads, new offensive coordinator Homer Smith named Jim Bonds the starter.

In a one-page letter faxed to the media announcing his departure, Johnson said there had been a "pre-determination" that he would not become the starter, that he was a scapeooat for coach Terry Donahue's 14th and worst season as head coach.

Johnson said he still is bitter.

"Of course," he said. "It was an unprofessional type of thing. I'll probably be bitter for a long time. But I don't think about it that much, only when somebody brings it up."

Part of his bitterness is directed at the Southern California media. When Johnson left, columnists lined up to take their shots at the Golden Boy, using his faxed letter ripping UCLA as fodder. One newspaper ran a cartoon showing a baby outfit and rattle, saying it should be Johnson's uniform.

Johnson said he wouldn't have handled his departure any differently. He said he knew he was "a pretty good target" for the critics.

Here was a guy who didn't lose a game he started his last two seasons at El Toro High School, an All-American recruited by the top college football schools in the land, and, critics said, he just couldn't handle it when the press clippings became unsuitable for framing.

When the going got tough, he got going - a couple thousand miles away.

He was 20 at the time.

"They used that word, adversity, `the first sign of adversity,"' Johnson said. "How did they think 3-7-1 was? It wasn't a walk in the park for a kid who hadn't lost since his sophomore year of high school. I felt every single one of those losses.

"I was going through the worst time of my life. Why didn't I bolt after that? I still was starting each week, but I would get replaced in the middle of the game; most of the time, it was the right decision, because I wasn't moving the team. But people are soon to forget."

The critics also noted that after Johnson won the job in preseason practice the previous year, Bonds waited patiently, quietly. They said that if Johnson had just stayed around, he would have gotten his chance, too.

"Would I? That's the question you have to ask. Would I?" Johnson said. "A lot of people who wrote articles ripping me, that was their way of doing it more, saying that if I would have stayed, I would have played. Would I?"

Smith was asked after naming Bonds the starter whether Johnson would have been even second-string. Smith said yes, but there was "a fly in the ointment."

Maddox.

The redshirt freshman replaced Bonds, who was struggling, in the second half of the second game of the season, rallying UCLA to a victory over Stanford. He went on to earn freshman All-America honors.

Did Maddox contribute to Johnson's swift exit? Did Johnson leave because he knew Maddox would become a star?

"I really didn't know," Johnson said. "I had no idea what would happen once I left."

Because Johnson redshirted in 1988, he was forced to sit out last year and has only two seasons of eligibility remaining.

His competition at Michigan State: sophomore-to-be Jim Miller, the back-up quarterback last year, who has a good arm but is not mobile; redshirt freshman Mill Coleman, a 5-9 Doug Flutie-type, who owns a slew of Michigan high school records, and strong-armed junior John Gieselman.

In the spring game April 27, Johnson, known more for his mobility than for his passing, completed 11 of 18 for 156 yards.

Johnson said he watched UCLA on television last year, and that his loyalty was limited to the Bruin players who were his teammates at El Toro: flanker Scott Miller, offensive guard Scott Spaulding and defensive tackle Cory Wayland.

"When I was watching the screen, I was just watching them," Johnson said."