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Watch: Inky Johnson delivers powerful message to Tennessee football team

IMG_3593by:Grant Ramey•02/07/23•

GrantRamey

Inky Johnson spoke to the Tennessee football team last week, delivering a message of commitment to the Vols. The former standout Tennessee defensive back shared a clip of his talk to the team on social media:

“This the generation of cats that just talk. They say what something means to them, they talk about what they’re going to do. Then when it’s time for that action, they ain’t nowhere to be found. Or they blaming somebody. Or they really don’t mean what they say. They really don’t stand on it.

“I used to ask cats one question when I got here, when I played football here. One question. Can you be committed to the process of what you’re doing, without being emotionally attached to the results of what you’re doing? I don’t care how many stars you got. I don’t care if you was Army All-American, McDonalds All-American, your hood All-American, your school All-American. It’s not about none of that. Because when you get here, you’re going to meet cats that is just as nice as you are. Here you’re going to meet cats just as hungry as you are. I don’t care what your momma told you. I don’t care what your coach told you. Because when talent meets talent, talent is no longer enough. Right?

“You can find a cat Downtown Knoxville that runs what you run. You can find a cat over by Fulton High School that can do what you do. What’s special about it? Do you show up on time? Do you do what you say you’re going to do? Can you be counted upon when you tell your teammate I’ll be there for you. Will you really be there? Or is it predicated upon if you get what you want, they tell you what you want to hear or they treat you the way that you want to be treated? Or if you say something, do you really stand on it? We’re talking about a game, man. We’re talking about a game.

“Most of y’all cats in here, let’s be real, y’all elite. Y’all high level. What’s the next step? Right? Like when it’s all said and done, what’s can be extract from it? What are we working to cultivate every single day? Behind the game and through the game of football every single day that we can take, transfer and carry over into every day life with the skills we cultivate through the game of football every single day.”

Johnson has become a star as a motivational speaker in his life after football. He played at Tennessee in 2005 and 2006, but his right arm was permanently paralyzed after being injured in a win over Air Force at Neyland Stadium in 2006.

He played in 13 games at Tennessee before the injury, recording 40 tackles — 32 solo and eight assists — with 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack and an interception. 

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