Ex-Detroit Lion has chance encounter with Bill Ford, creates $250M company
Kevin Johnson trains future NFL players
This is the story of two men who crossed paths 19 years ago while being treated for injuries — a football player with a torn Achilles tendon and an auto executive who took a slap shot to the ankle while playing ice hockey.
Kevin Johnson, now a 48-year-old multimillionaire, limped off the field as a Detroit Lions wide receiver on Oct. 23, 2005, after the last play of his career. He ended up in the team training room in Allen Park for days. Much to his surprise, so did William “Bill” Clay Ford Jr., great-grandson of the founder of Ford Motor Co., and vice chairman of the NFL team his family owns.
Johnson peppered Ford with questions, and Ford answered every single one. He revealed details about his life, his work style and his company strategy.
Johnson couldn’t believe it at the time. After all these years, he said the kindness and grace of a man considered industrial royalty helped define what might be possible for a kid from New Jersey.
While some pro athletes might struggle after an abrupt ending to their sports dream, Johnson went on to build a $250 million empire not far from where he grew up. He envisioned a mixed-use community that now includes hundreds of luxury apartments and a 120,000-square-foot fitness and medical complex that trains college and professional athletes.
The son of a single mom who cleaned hospitals to pay bills, Johnson knew when he had to change course that he had to be smart and strategic.
Spending just one year with the Lions — 2005 — put him on a trajectory to business success. He played for the Cleveland Browns, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Baltimore Ravens previously.
With the NFL behind him, Johnson headed east. He would name his empire after the No. 85 jersey he wore for Detroit.
(Giving Johnson his career No. 85 jersey was controversial in Detroit because it had not been assigned since wide receiver Chuck Hughes wore it in 1971. Hughes, 28, collapsed during a game against the Chicago Bears and declared dead at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. The cause of death was ruled a coronary thrombosis.)
“Anytime you can touch a billionaire, it gives you hope, I want to say confidence,” Johnson told me.
“When you play professional sports, whether it’s the NFL or something else, you’re just happy to be there at first. Then you start to wonder, ‘What’s on the other side of the door?’”
Johnson kept in mind the advice Bill Ford offered.
The former football player purchased Lucas Ford, a 50-year-old dealership in Burlington, New Jersey, fulfilling a goal that he kept private after decades of success to one day become part of the global Ford family.
‘Glad we both had sports injuries’
Earlier this month, Johnson found himself passing Bill Ford in the hallway during a Ford dealer meeting at the Wynn in Las Vegas. Ford made the connection immediately, and he shared with his personal team his history with Johnson.
“I’m really happy for Kevin and proud that he is one our newest Ford dealers. Kevin is exactly the kind of person who makes a great dealer,” Ford told me in a statement. “He’s competitive, hard-working and loves building a winning team. Now in hindsight, I’m glad we both had sport injuries at the same time.”
Johnson is now a father of three children and married to his high school sweetheart for 20 years. Looking back, he laughs.
“I'm in a training room ... and you see the owner come on in and think, ‘Oh, what the hell is he in here for?’” Johnson said. “He hurt his ankle playing hockey with his son. He’s getting treatment and I’m getting treatment. At age 30, I’ve got my whole life in front of me. And I have the opportunity to see the CEO of Ford Motor Company, why not ask him about life and business?”
So he asked how to run a car dealership, what days are like as a global business leader and probed to learn more about Ford business operations.
“He said, ‘You just run it with good people.’ He started mentioning the Blue Oval community and how Ford starts to introduce itself to children — on little cars in cartoons and how he has employees working on those cartoons. It was so interesting. He talked about going into manufacturing (plants) and talking to people on assembly lines and asking them questions. By the time the plant manager knows he’s there, he’s leaving. ‘You’ve got to get into the weeds and start talking to people who really have boots on the ground,’ he said.
“I could see the attitude from the top. You see something special. Mr. Ford said at that time, ‘You should have a dealership one day.’ And that sticks in the back of your mind,” Johnson said.
He ended up opening a dealership because he wanted to serve his community, he said..
“You look at car dealers, and there’s such a dark cloud over the car industry,” Johnson said. “This was an existing dealership and it made sense for me to enter a field I hadn’t been involved in before — and the stars started to align.”
For years, Johnson lived off faith, family, football and fitness — now he added Ford.
“Everything has come full circle,” he said.
‘You get what you put in,’ no looking back
Between 2007 and 2014, Johnson purchased 65 acres and developed a TeamCampus town center built around health. He wanted a live/work/play environment.
He began with Team85 Fitness and Wellness in Bordentown with turf fields for athletes, free child care for children 9 weeks to 12 years old, crafts and story time, an indoor pool, sauna and cafe; then added Team Campus Bordentown senior luxury apartments nearby.
“I grew up in Mercer County, about 20 minutes from where I live now. I went to Hamilton High West,” he said. “The best part about owning a health club is you see a lot of the young kids who attend my high school come to train.”
Marvin Harrison Jr., now a wide receiver for the Arizona Cardinals, spent years working out at Team85. A lot of players drafted in recent years are familiar faces at Team85.
“I want to be a quality role model on and off the football field,” Johnson said. “My mom raised me to be a hard worker, to go for what you want and do the right things, be a person of character and integrity. You get what you put in. You put a little in, you get a little out. You put everything in, you get everything out.”
In 2018, his mother died of stomach cancer. It’s still too painful.
“What that taught me? Maximize your moment,” Johnson said. “Being the first person in my family to graduate from college, it’s sort of my responsibility, not only to my kids and wife to be that person to be able to provide for everyone, but, most importantly, a person my mother can be proud of. “
The Syracuse University graduate, who earned a bachelor’s degree as a history major, and spent most of his college football career as the backup quarterback to Donavan McNabb, who would go on to become a Philadelphia Eagles legend.
But waiting until his third year in college to take the field, Johnson said, taught him hard work, focus, dedication and preparing for a moment that may or may not come. “You have to be prepared. They always say, ‘Stay ready, don’t get ready.’”
The two quarterbacks became friends, and McNabb went on to spent a decade with the Eagles. Another Syracuse alum, Marvin Harrison Sr., who played wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts with Peyton Manning, one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, suggested that Johnson switch from being the player who throws the football to the player who catches the football.
Johnson took the advice.
He eventually came to Detroit on a one-year deal, with management thinking he would be especially helpful in working with young athletes on discipline and attitude.
All these years later, Johnson describes seeing Bill Ford again and how life unfolded.
“I just saw him and said, ‘How are you doing, Mr. Ford?’ We had a nice conversation,” Johnson said. “I went to college as a quarterback and it didn’t work out. But you hang in there and continue to do the right things and prepare. Things will always work out in the end.”
Bronco, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Bentley
Getting into the car business seems like an obvious move for a guy who loves cars.
He owns half a dozen Super Duty work trucks, along with his 2014 and 2021 F-150 pickups. His personal collection also includes a 2022 Ferrari F-8 Spyder, a 2024 Lamborghini Uris, a 2020 Rolls Royce Wreath, a 2020 Bentley GT and three Range Rover SUVs.
The Ford Bronco Raptor is his daily ride “because it’s a nice beefy, aggressive” vehicle and the top is removable. His wife and oldest son drive Broncos, too.
Kevin Jr., 25, started at Syracuse and transferred to the University of Florida as a wide receiver. He lived at the family home in Orlando. As a graduate, he helps his father at the dealership.
Keyshawn, 22, is a defensive back at Wagner University in Staten Island, New York. (He drives a 2019 Jeep Grand Cherokee.)
Samara, who turned 18 on Aug. 15, is a soccer player at St. Leo University in St. Leo, Florida. She just replaced a Range Rover with a Bronco.
Shaniece Johnson is the backbone of the family, Johnson said. Trust and friendship keep the couple strong. “She has been with me through thick and thin. You’re always evolving and growing.”
‘He made it, I can make it’
The story of Kevin Johnson is not the story of one man but a story to hold up for so many to see, said New Jersey state Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Moorestown.
“People think, ‘because he made it, I can make it,’” Singleton said.
“Kevin comes from a diverse, working-class community ... He grew up in Hamilton in Mercer County and has never lost his common touch,” Singleton said. “You find folks able to elevate and do well, yet they’ve never lost the ability to connect with people, whether CEOs or the trash collector. He treats everybody the same. People understand the genuineness and want to do business with someone they can trust.”
Understanding the struggling, often divided communities is a special skill, and sports can galvanize everybody, said Singleton, who is Senate majority whip, assisting the New Jersey Senate president and the majority leader in generating or “whipping” support for legislation.
“These are places where everybody is head down, working hard and trying to make sure to save for a rainy day, and oftentimes it’s raining a lot,” he said.
Johnson has an ability to determine what’s missing in the community and fills needs, Singleton said. “He continues to give back.”
Taking care of ‘regular’ guys
Steve Klotz, 41, of Levittown, Pennsylvania recently replaced his Ford Bronco with an Avalanche Grey 2024 F-150. He has had F-150 pickups for awhile as a shipping manager for a commercial manufacturer of refrigerators and freezers.
“I got to meet Kevin,” Klotz said. “I’m a huge football fan myself. We had a good conversation. He let me feel like one of the family. He sat and talked to me and asked me normal questions and bullshitted with me. He made me feel super comfortable. He has had some successes with his NFL career, and he let me feel like just a normal person. It was the easiest car experience I’ve ever had.”
Klotz, who is familiar with Ford dealerships throughout the area, said he came to Johnson Ford because of the team assembled behind the scenes.
“I will pay the $4 bridge toll to go over the bridge to Johnson Ford to get my service done,” he said. “I feel like it’ll be taken care of there.”
Not finished yet, big dreams ahead
Johnson takes nothing for granted. And he hasn’t stopped making plans.
This may be just the first of many Ford dealerships, he said. And he still dreams of owning a pro football team.
“I have to pinch myself some days,” Johnson said. “God has blessed me to build a $250 to $300 million company and the opportunity to own a Ford dealership with my boys. I look and see how Ford has created a family atmosphere with the dealerships.”
In the end, Johnson has no business partners. Anything he owns, he owns 100%. He mentioned that his is the only Black-owned dealership of 108 Ford dealerships in the Philadelphia region.
“What I think it does is it gives people hope,” Johnson said. “When I was growing up, if you wore a suit and tie, I thought you were smart … A lot of inner city kids, their reality is, they want to be a basketball player or a football player. You can say, ‘Hey, you can not only be a basketball player and football player, but own a dealership and build buildings and own a health club and apartment buildings.’ You want to give people hope to accomplish whatever they want to accomplish. You can, as long as you have integrity and confidence in yourself.”
PS: As a former reporter at The Des Moines Register and a guest lecturer at the annual Okoboji Writers Retreat in Iowa, I’m grateful to be part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative. See below for a collection of interesting columns on different topics.
