Jonah Krell is an ASU Cronkite School of Journalism student assigned to cover Northwest Christian for AZPreps365.com.

Each time Luke Johnson’s shoulder dislocated, it felt as if the joint was loose, and it kept popping in and out of place like a puzzle piece. He felt a fiery sensation in a line down his shoulder each time his labrum tore.

This was Johnson’s reality for his entire high school football career — now he is retiring from the game. The senior linebacker and offensive lineman is set to have his third surgery in the last four years next week. What was the 18-year-old’s thought process for his decision to retire? 

He was thinking about his future children.

Johnson had been forced to consider this when he made the announcement on Twitter on Oct. 25 to “hang up my cleats” and retire from football. He suffered a shoulder injury in Week 2 of this season, resulting in his third shoulder surgery in his high school career. 

The fact that Johnson was thinking about his future shows a level of maturity that impressed his father, Danny Johnson.

“We had to make those tough decisions to say, ‘Football is not forever,’” Danny Johnson said. “It’s awesome that he is going to look at this as an opportunity to continue to give back and as a dad, you couldn’t ask for something better that your kids are now looking at the dad that they want to be or the coach that they want to be for the next generation. That’s what being a dad is all about.”

Danny Johnson was Luke’s coach from kindergarten up until high school. From a young age, Luke was a natural leader and a protector of others. That carried on into high school football at Northwest Christian, which paired with his competitiveness to make him a high-level player and team captain on both offense and defense. 

Yet, injuries got in his way since his freshman season in 2018, the last year Northwest Christian won a state championship. Luke Johnson dislocated his right shoulder and tore his labrum in Week 4 that season, requiring labral repair surgery and a six-month recovery. 

While Johnson started on the varsity team and had no problems in his sophomore year, he dislocated the same shoulder in Week 1 of his junior season. He got an MRI and found that he had 22% bone loss in his shoulder from playing football. Doctors said Johnson could still play through the pain if it could be tolerated, which he did. That season, his shoulder dislocated about three times each game.

In the offseason, he received Latarjet surgery on his right shoulder, in which a piece of bone was cut off from the shoulder blade and transferred to where the missing bone had been. 

However, that would only hold up for so long. In Week 2 of this season against Buckeye, Johnson dislocated his left shoulder and tore that labrum. He will have labral repair surgery on that shoulder on Nov. 23. 

After the most recent injury he remained a key voice and involved team captain, staying on the sidelines during games and practices. However, on his senior night and the last game of the regular season, Johnson suited up and was sent in to score a 1-yard rushing touchdown in the second quarter. It was an emotional moment for his final high school play. 

In the last two years, Johnson was talking to several colleges and was considering playing at the College of Idaho, which made him a scholarship offer. He had also been in communication with 10 Division II schools and over 20 Division III and NAIA schools, making it difficult to decide whether he should continue to pursue the game he started playing at 7 years old. 

In the end, Johnson decided against furthering his career, as possible shoulder replacement surgery before the age of 21 could have looming effects on his physical ability long-term.

 “I have things I want to do for the rest of my life after football,” Johnson said. “I know football is going to end at some point, and I don’t want to push football far enough to where it hurts me for the rest of my life. Even though I love the game so much, I’ve had to make the decision – either give up the playing aspect of the game to help the rest of my life, or to play through the injury, risk getting major shoulder reconstruction if it gets hurt again, and then, not even be able do things for the rest of my life.”

As Luke Johnson took time to process the decision he made, the best way that Danny Johnson supported him was by simply giving him time and space. While he treaded lightly, strength and conditioning coach and offensive line coach Logan Byers, a mentor to Luke Johnson, stepped directly into the situation and took his player out for dinner.

“We just talked,” Byers said. “Life kicks you in the teeth every now and again, and there’s just things I went through that I could relate to him with.”

The coach said his biggest piece of advice was to “find that next thing you’re just deeply passionate about and you’re going to be very successful at it, because of his work ethic.”

Johnson has now started over in the college admission process, and is looking to get a degree in business. After college, he plans to get his EMT certification and start a career in a fire department. Danny Johnson has been a firefighter for over 20 years, and Luke said “being able to fill his shoes would be an absolute joy.”

It’s clear the end to Johnson’s playing days is the beginning of a new chapter. Byers sees “a whole lot of good” in his future and believes “he’s going to be ‘Coach Johnson’ sometime soon.”

Nevertheless, Johnson, showing the maturity that his peers and role models use to describe him, has taken the time to reflect amidst these thoughts of what is next. He has a message of positivity that echoes his thought process as he made the toughest decision of his life so far. 

“If anyone who is going through these injuries, and they can’t play the sport they love anymore … their athletic ability is not their only thing that’s valuable to them,” Luke Johnson said. “Hopefully, I’d say people find value in the Lord but I know everyone doesn’t believe in that. So, find value in your teammates, find value in people, find value in parents, your family …”

“You are valuable in many aspects of your life, not just athletics.”