Brad Johnson takes part in Seminoles' summer drills

By Ira Schoffel

Florida State's football past and present came together for an impromptu workout at the Seminoles' practice fields earlier this month.

As FSU's current players grinded through another day of summer conditioning drills on one field, two of the Seminoles' all-time greats put on a show of their own.

Super Bowl champion quarterback Brad Johnson, who now plays for the Minnesota Vikings, threw a series of passing routes to former NFL receiver Kez McCorvey while FSU's current players wrapped up their drills.

"Kez, you've still got that quickness man," Johnson said after drilling one short pass to his former FSU teammate.

"Yeah, a little bit," McCorvey responded with a smile.

It hardly looked like 15 years had passes since Johnson and McCorvey last were college teammates -- they were both on the Seminoles' 1990 and '91 teams.

"That brings back memories," Johnson told the Osceola. "Kez still looks good. I don't know if he has the conditioning for four quarters. But he still has a little burst to him and catches the ball as well as he ever has. And he comes out of his breaks real nice for an old man."

The two alumni obviously looked good enough to draw the attention of the current Seminoles. During a break in their drills, FSU's players gathered around water coolers and watched Johnson throw pass after pass in McCorvey's direction.

Then, once the conditioning drills were finished, Johnson actually participated in the Seminoles' informal passing drills.

Though he didn't throw quite as many passes as Drew Weatherford and Xavier Lee, Johnson said he enjoyed the experience.

"Very rarely will I come back and throw," Johnson said. "Their routes are different than the routes I throw (in the NFL). So it would kind of mess me up if I were to get on their pace. But I just wanted to get out and watch some of these young guys run and see how they caught. Obviously, they work hard, and it was a good experience."

It goes without saying that FSU's current players were thrilled as well.

"This is my first time meeting him," Lee said. "It was nice to meet him and get some words of wisdom from him. Hopefully, he'll be around (more) so I can get some more insight from him."

Said Weatherford: "He's got a busy schedule -- he's got kids and everything. For him to come out, it's great. It's kind of like when you were in high school and guys come back from college. They let you know what it takes at the next level."

Though he has been in the NFL for 14 years, Johnson's arm strength was extremely impressive. On more than one occasion, players laughed when the velocity of Johnson's passes caught receivers by surprise.

"He's still got it," Weatherford said with a laugh. "He's not too old yet. He's not over the hill."

After the hour-long passing workout, receiver Robert Hallback was one of several Seminoles to go over and personally thank Johnson for coming out.

"I was surprised when I saw him out here. It was an experience for everybody," Hallback said. "Brad, he's been there. And we're just trying to follow in his footsteps. Just being around somebody of his caliber gives everyone motivation to play at a higher level."

Johnson also was impressed with the Seminoles -- especially with the way two freshman quarterbacks were able to direct the informal workout.

"These guys work hard," Johnson said. "They come out here and do all the running that they do. And the throwing is really unsupervised, which is really kind of good for the quarterbacks to take a leadership role.

"Everything's usually kind of orchestrated, but now you've got to do it on your own. But the guys are coming here and working hard, and that's why Florida State has been so good over the years."