Injured Defensive Lineman Brett Johnson Updates His Status

Cal defensive lineman Brett Johnson, whose career was interrupted when he sustained a severe hip injury in an auto accident this spring, says he “feels good” and is happy with his rehab progress.

“I am building up my muscles back,” he said Wednesday in his first public statements since the crash. “I am doing rehab, making sure I get my hips strong again so I can get on the field soon.”

Just how soon is anybody’s guess right now. The original prognosis was that the 6-5, 300-pound junior would be sidelined until 2022. On Wednesday he did not rule out playing at some point this season.

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Cal DL Brett Johnson

“We don’t have any specific timeline for it yet,” he said. “But I am improving and I will be back on the field as soon as possible.”

In a Zoom call with the Bay Area media, Johnson confirmed that his fellow D-lineman Luc Bequette, who transferred to Boston College last summer when the Pac-12 announced it was canceling the 2020 fall season, is back on campus and hopes to rejoin the Bears in the fall for a last go-round.  There has been no official word yet, but his return seems a foregone conclusion,

Johnson’s primary injury was a broken hip and he has been concentrating on keeping his upper body strong and taking it easy, for now, on his legs.

“Right now I am doing full upper body work,” he said. “Making sure to get my upper body muscles back and very minimal lower body with the strength staff.”

Of course, there is some pain involved, but Johnson is not one to let a few aching body parts slow him down. “I am working through minimal discomfort,” he said. “There are still things that give me some issues but nothing that is not going to be overcome soon enough.”

Of course, he must deal with the mental part of not being a full participant. Johnson says he is coping.

“It has not been that difficult to stay optimistic, honestly,” he said. “It has been disappointing, a bummer that I won’t be able to have a successful year. But I still am improving, I am still working, I still have a lot of hope that there is a lot of brightness in the future.

“Everyone has injuries in this sport. Some people get worse injuries than others. I have talked to a number of guys who have gotten hurt. They all say the same thing to me, ‘Don’t dwell on the negativity of it, don’t dwell on the accident. Just continue to improve.’ And that’s where we are right now.”

Johnson is giving advice, counsel, and some coaching to the younger defensive linemen while he is incapacitated. He is also glad to see that Bequette is back in town. 

“I think it’s great,” he said. “Luc was a great friend to me my freshman year when I first got here. He definitely showed me the ropes. He was one of the older guys who was assigned to me, to help me find my way through Berkeley. A super nice guy, great player, obviously. Good person to have in the locker room.”

While he works on his rehab, Johnson has also adjusted his appearance.  Gone are the shoulder-length locks that he sported much of the time, and what was occasionally a beard of various lengths is now the makings of a handlebar mustache that would look good in any barbershop quartet.

“I have been able to grow a mustache for a while then it gets a little scraggly. I'll get tired of it and shave it off,” he said, recounting his history with facial hair. “I just decided to let my mustache grow super-long and just keep it and maintain it, I am more interested in the process, the specificities of mustaches that I never was aware of before. But I am getting familiar with them.”

As for the hair, which had to be cut for hygienic reasons when Johnson was hospitalized, “It will be back, I guarantee it.”

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