Senior defensive back Cliff Johnson set to play in the Las Vegas All-American Classic.
This Saturday while Morgan State football’s Sam Massey is playing in the Hula Bowl in Maui, Hawaii, fellow defensive back Cliff Johnson will be playing in the casino capital of the world.Morgan State senior defensive back Cliff Johnson was recently selected to play in the Inaugural Las Vegas All-American Classic, to be held January 17th, at Sam Boyd Stadium. Johnson will become the first Bear to compete in the game.
“Cliff is our Jack Tatum,” said MSU head coach Donald Hill-Eley. “He intimidates with the size of a linebacker, and is graceful as a defensive back.”
Former Dallas Cowboy running backs coach Galen Hall and long–time NFL offensive coach Joe Pendry, will be the head coaches of the East and West squads respectively. Johnson will be a member of the East team.
The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net, to all Western states and throughout the Midwest in approximately 40 million homes.
The Classic will have 110 of the top college athletes from around the country making it “America’s Largest College All-Star Football Game.”
According to Classic officials, this years game will benefit from moving from a population base of 100,000 to 1.3 million, moving from an estimated 8,500-seat stadium to a 36,000-seat stadium, from small town to the entertainment capital of the world.
“Cliff was thinking about walking away from football as a result of difficulty he had transferring from the University of Maryland,” said Hill. “He had his whole football career resurrected here at Morgan State where he was in an environment where he could excel as an athlete, but more importantly as a good person.”
NOTE: Sam Massey was selected to play in The Hula Bowl (Jan. 17 on ESPN at 8 p.m.) and The Villages Gridiron Classic, an all-star game slated for January 31 at the Villages Polo Stadium, in The Villages, Fla. The game will be televised on ESPN at 12 noon.
