Buffalo Bills RB Ty Johnson, who enjoys football, was raised by a single mother.
Cumberland native Ty Johnson set a new career high in receiving yards Sunday with 114, becoming the first Bills running back to eclipse 100 yards through the air in 14 years.
Highlights
- Ty Johnson set a new career high in receiving yards on Sunday, December 15, 2024.
- Johnson was born to his mother, Tracy Johnson, who attends his every match even with a bad knee.
- He has one elder brother, Leroy, and one elder sister, Lakeisha.
The sixth-year NFL vet and Fort Hill graduate finished with five catches on five targets and was the Bills’ leading receiver in a 48-42 win over the Detroit Lions.
Johnson’s previous career high was 71 yards against the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021, and he bested that midway through the 2nd quarter with 95 yards before halftime.
He had three catches for 20 or more yards Sunday, the most by a Bills running back in a game since Thurman Thomas in Week 2 of 1992 against the 49ers.
Sunday was somewhat of a revenge game for Johnson, who was initially drafted by the Lions in the sixth round of 2019 out of the University of Maryland.
Johnson was waived by the Lions in 2020 when he was picked up by the New York Jets. He signed with the Bills over the summer of 2023.
A two-time area Player of the Year and state champion at Fort Hill in 2013-14, Johnson has tied a career-high with four touchdowns this season.
Ty Johnson’s Mother Often Worked Multiple Jobs And Unpredictable Shifts
Buffalo Bills running back Ty Johnson, 27, was born on September 17, 1997, in Cumberland, Maryland, United States, to his mother, Tracy Johnson, and his father, whose identity has not been revealed.
Tracy was a single mom who worked multiple jobs and unpredictable shifts to support her children. She did what she could to help young Ty get where he wanted to be.
Whatever it took was her motto, and she did everything she could to help him understand the game, even using pennies to explain football plays.
As Johnson’s mother explained on a Big Ten Network segment of “The Journey,” when her son was playing peewee football and needed to learn the plays, she found a fun way to help him understand: she used pennies to mimic the players in the schemes.
In the clip, she said,
“They gave us a folder with the plays in it. Literally it was the schematic of a play. We took pennies and we labeled these pennies, running back, quarterback. I would call the play out, and he would have to move the pennies where everyone’s assignment was,” “I wasn’t going in the yard and throwing the ball with him and tackling. It was a way I could teach him the game and teach him the plays and get him where he needed to be knowledge wise as a young football player.
Tracy Johnson
When Ty set the single-season Maryland record by gaining 9.13 yards per carry in 2016, Tracy witnessed nearly all of it, attending every home game.
She joked that if it weren’t for the visiting teams putting the parents up so high and having to claim all of the steps with a bad knee, she’d probably never miss a road game either.
While discussing what it’s like to watch Ty’s game-breaking performances on the field, Tracy was on the brink of tears as she tried to explain how proud she is of her youngest son.
The best Mother’s Day gift Tracy had ever received came after the NFL Draft when she received a text from Ty saying that he couldn’t wait for the day he could be there and know he could take care of her forever.
She messaged him back and told Ty that his happiness and his dreams coming true were the only things she ever needed.
In addition, Ty has one older brother, Leroy, who has gone into the military, and one older sister, Lakeisha, who attended Virginia Tech.
Although his siblings weren’t always around him, Ty had great independence at an early age.
Additional Information
- Rivals rated Johnson as a three-star college prospect, the 20th-best recruit in Maryland, and the 64th-best running back prospect in the country.
- Johnson was a multi-year starter at running back and defensive back for the high school football team.
- Ty Johnson is expected to earn $1,292,500 with the Buffalo Bills.
