 Scott DochtermanI'm originally from Burlington, and I'm a 1997 Western Illinois University graduate. I've worked in Burlington, Muscatine, Fort Dodge and [...] |
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DJK continues NFL quest as an Iowa football outcast
Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz pulls Iowa's Derrell Johnson-Koulianos off the field after a scuffle during the first half of their Big Ten Conference College Football game against Minnesota Saturday, Nov. 27, 2010 at TCF Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minn. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)
IOWA CITY — Banished from his college program after a December drug arrest, wide receiver Derrell Johnson-Koulianos continues his NFL quest outside the parameters of Iowa football.
Johnson-Koulianos worked out before three NFL scouts at Iowa City’s Fit2Live about an hour after the rest of his ex-teammates finished their drills at Iowa’s pro day Monday. He reached personal bests in several categories, including his 40-yard dash time. But he can’t help but think about his missed opportunities, especially not competing before NFL scouts under the Iowa umbrella.
“It’s a humbling experience,” Johnson-Koulianos said in an exclusive interview after his workout. “I’m back at square one. I’m refocused, and I’m more motivated than ever.
“I just made a bad decision, and life’s about decisions. I made a lot of good decisions a lot of the time, but I made a couple bad ones that cost me a couple of rounds, cost me a lot of money, cost me a big part of my fan base and tarnished how people saw me.”
Monday, Johnson-Koulianos stood 5-foot-11 1/2 inches and weighed 200 pounds. His 40-yard dash times of 4.5 and 4.52 seconds were personal bests. He benched pressed 225 pounds 21 times and had a vertical jump of 34.5 inches. At the NFL Combine last month in Indianapolis, only 11 wide receivers posted better 40 times and only two had more bench-press repetitions.
Johnson-Koulianos has no peer in many categories at Iowa. He’s the program’s all-time leader in catches (173) and receiving yards (2,616). He’s third in touchdown receptions (17) and fifth in all-purpose yards (4,231). He’s a four-year starter, led Iowa in receptions for three straight years, caught 14 passes exceeding 20 yards last year and was named first-team all-Big Ten by league coaches.
In 2010, he also led the Big Ten in kickoff returns with a 29.3 yard-per-return average, ranking No. 8 nationally. He had seven returns of 30-plus yards, including an 88-yarder for a score at Minnesota that earned him national kick returner of the week honors.
But that productivity faded into memory on Dec. 7, 2010 when Johnson-Koulianos was arrested on six drug counts (he later pleaded guilty to one count). After years of constant friction with the coaching staff, Johnson-Koulianos was severed from the Iowa program following the arrest and did not play in Iowa’s bowl game. He didn’t get to wear his former Iowa football helmet at a college all-star game in February and was not allowed to participate in Iowa’s pro day.
Former Iowa football player Derrell Johnson-Koulianos walks off the stand after testifying during the second-degree sexual abuse trial of former player Cedric Everson Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2011 at the Johnson County District Courthouse in Iowa City, Iowa. Everson is accused of sexually assaulting a female student athlete in a Hillcrest residence hall dorm room on the UI campus in Oct. 2007. (Pool Photo/Brian Ray)
“There’s already been discussion that I’m not getting very good feedback from inside the program,” Johnson-Koulianos said. “I knew that was going to happen. I’m not surprised by that. I think that once people get in front of me and see who I am and for somebody who is out there to give me an opportunity, I would make sure I would prove that exactly right.
“Some people don’t like my style, but I think there will be somebody out there who does. All it takes is one team, and all I need is an opportunity. If that means I have to play for no money and make it by performing, then I’ll do that. My thing is, I’m not too concerned about the destination, I’m more into the journey.”
Johnson-Koulianos gets one more opportunity on April 15-16 in a workout at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium. Until then he’ll continue to train with Elias Karras at EFT Sports Performance in Highland Park, Ill., and hope for a chance at redemption.
“To be honest with you — strangely enough — I like that the odds are against me,” he said. “It’s kind of a reflection of what my personality is — that’s who I’ve always been. It didn’t always look good, but I was able to persevere through it. I don’t think this situation is any different. So I’m embracing it.
“I love where I’m at. It’s not in the brightest tunnel right now but there’s some light there.”
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Scott, why would you waste the ink on this guy? Personally I don’t give a darn about this druggie. He is NOT anywhere close to being a role model yet you seem to want to give him his 5 minutes of fame. he was on scholarship He played football. He got caught with drugs, got it reduced to a slap on the hand then you all evidently feel the need to elevate him to greatness. Currently he’s a bum until he does something worthwhile to have an impact on society…. as sitting in his house smoking dope isn’t what our youth should aspire to. Good riddance djk. Please let the door hit you on your way out.
I think they’re are a few very good reasons to follow his path that are tough to argue with. Unless of course you’re completely prejudiced against him.
1. People are interested. Whether you like it or not, articles about him are pretty interesting. He’s got personality, and that’s very entertaining, whether you like him or not.
2. He’s done a lot for Iowa football. his stat sheet is hard to argue with. Its proven that he has been one of the most consistent and productive players in all of Iowa history. And this is with having to deal with a head coach who clearly didn’t like him. To kick him to the curb after one public slip-up is more than a little harsh.
3. Football players are entertainers. They are not out to try and improve society, they are their to entertain people like you and me. So unless the athlete is actively disruptive and consistently a poor role model, they’re shouldnt be a problem. And DJK being a kid, and making a poor choice does not fulfill this. If anything, I admire him for being able to stay so positive in all this. He doesn’t try and sugar coat the situation, he knows that only hard work will get him through this, and he’s not backing down from it. And I find that hard working attitude something to look up to.
Here’s why he’s not going to get any breaks to go his way. When he says, “Some people don’t like my style, but I think there will be somebody out there who does. All it takes is one team, and all I need is an opportunity. If that means I have to play for no money and make it by performing, then I’ll do that. My thing is, I’m not too concerned about the destination, I’m more into the journey.” What he’s really saying is — “I’m about me.” Or as Terrell Owens put it, “I love me some me.”
But the red flag is here:
“To be honest with you — strangely enough — I like that the odds are against me,” he said. “It’s kind of a reflection of what my personality is — that’s who I’ve always been. It didn’t always look good, but I was able to persevere through it. I don’t think this situation is any different. So I’m embracing it.
“I love where I’m at. It’s not in the brightest tunnel right now but there’s some light there.”
This tells you he’s prone to adding degrees of difficulty to something that is already tough to master. This statement is the one that will really bite him because it says he’s not “owning” his mistakes. Secondly, he enjoys being on the outside (and/or in dark tunnels) and Pro Football Organizations strongly prefer guys who are ‘in the huddle.’
I don’t have the harshness for DJK as some — but, athletically, he’s not nearly elite enough to not need plenty of intangible positives.
Right now, he’s a strong guy who is a little shorter than ideal. Best skill might be returns – which are likely to be a diminished element of pro game- and while he’s willing to do the dirty work what he really wants to be is a peacock.
He’ll get a shot to make a roster but not via a draft pick. NFL rosters already have guys who are elite athletes with shaky decision-making. Bringing in a guy who is marginally elite with seismically shaky decision-making and a bent for drama — that’s not additive. It’s just risky.
Wow do you not get what he was saying. His comments about having to persevere are clearly about his early years. He had a tougher childhood than most of us. He was luckily taken in by amazing adoptive parents. I know the kid and mistakes were made that you can see he admits. He’s working hard to be an NFL guy. We will see if he’s “elite enough”. Everything in his career and his combine #’s say yes. You don’t have to cut him some slack, but hopefully a league that gives plenty of others a second chance will. I don’t need to point out all the others afforded a second chance. and how bad their offenses were. It is what it is. He’s doing whatever it takes to prove his worth. That includes making his own pro day on the same day as program that just washed it’s hands of him. I get no Insight Bowl. Everything beyond that seems a bit harsh. Nobody loves Hawkeye Football more than me. Give the kid a chance.
I think it’s fair to assume he was referring to his current situation with regards to having long odds. Nonetheless, what any NFL evaluator is going to see with DJK is a kid who consistently skirted the edge of the boundaries within the Iowa program. He simply didn’t mature to the same degree as others. We’re not talking just guys at Iowa but across the country. The NFL is literally rating and ranking and listing dudes 1 through 10, 15, 20. He’s not the only kid who made the difficult uphill climb for, frankly, horrible to impossible upbringings. He’s not at the top of any category. He’s limited himself into a middle of the category prospect in every category. His best qualities are athletic ‘measureables’ and they aren’t so rare as to necessitate a team extending much investment in him or opportunity for him. And as you point out there are others who have done worse or same and gotten a shot — problem is they tend not to work out. Did Dallas get great value from Dez Bryant?
“he’s a bum until he does something worthwhile to have an impact on society”…really? That’s your measure of not being a bum? When you find a 20? year old kid who has never made an error in judgement let me know. You can be disappointed in what happened but that doesn’t entitle you to label someone a bum…unless you can live up to that high standard yourself. Good luck with that.
Really? That’s your measure of not being a bum? When you find a 20? year old kid who has never made an error in judgement let the world know. Good luck with that.
Good Luck Derrell! Cant wait to see what you do next!
John, you obviously cared enough to open the link. If you don’t care about DJK, then don’t read about him. It never ceases to amaze me how people can complain that their reading something that they didn’t have to read in the first place.
Believe it or not, there are plenty of people who are still interested in what Derrell does going forward. I want to see him grow from all of this and have success. Maybe that won’t happen. But I’m rooting for him until it does.
John Adams,
A little harsh, aren’t we? “Not anywhere close to being a role model”, is it? Well, I have a news flash: That isn’t his job. Charles Barkley once said that if a kid needed to look for a role model anywhere other than across his dining room table, he had more problems than any jock could ever help him with. I tend to agree.
DJK made serious errors in judgment, of that there is no doubt, but in the end this “bum” or “thug”, or whatever name you want to call him, was charged only with misdemeanor possession. If I’d been a little less lucky, it could have happened to me as well when I was 20-something and going to school at Iowa. He is not there to model anyone’s role. He is a football player. I wish him well, though he disappointed me, and suggest you take a breath. This ain’t murder, assault, rape or robbery. It is aggravated stupidity, but not a lot more…
We all make mistakes in our lives. Some learn from them and grow. Some don’t. Let’s hope that DJK truly learned what gifts he has been given in life, and grows from his mistakes. I wish him well.
Hey! Let’s not all gang up on John Adams! The man was the second president of the United States, for pete’s sake! His words carry special import!