Once a top Heisman candidate, former Auburn Tigers quarterback is creating history in Mexico.
Almost precisely eleven months ago, an emotional Jeremy Johnson informed reporters that it was likely his final football game as a professional quarterback. He had recently won the national championship of Mexico’s premier football league, the LFA (Liga de Fútbol Americano), undefeated at 12-0, which was unprecedented in Mexico’s history.
Fast forward to present, and Johnson is two games away from adding another unbeaten championship to his squad, the Chihuahua Caudillos (Warlords). Johnson came back for more.
Johnson, a former Auburn Tigers quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate, has rewritten Mexican history as the powerhouse Caudillos have beaten everyone in their path, going undefeated since joining the league in 2023 as an expansion team of the LFA, which was founded in 2016. A perfect 20-0 record. Thanks in great part to Johnson.
Although most Americans are unaware, football in Mexico is much more than a pastime. It’s a rising league with issues, but its clubs have serious potential, including a diverse group of players with FBS experience.
“It’s a competitive league,” Johnson informs A to Z Sports. “quite much so, there are a lot of outstanding players in this league, both from the United States and Mexico, and I believe the competition is quite good. And, if you look closely, you’ll notice the NFL, the CFL, and the United Football League. And then there’s LFA. So, I mean, this league ranks fourth in the world.”
Trent Richardson, the former No. 3 overall choice in the NFL Draft and a 2011 Heisman Trophy contender, formerly played for the Caudillos in a league that competed with the LFA. Terence Williams, a former Cowboys wide receiver, spent a season playing in Tijuana. Juwan Sonic Manigo, a former NCAA Division III player, earned MVP in Mexico as a Caudillo and utilized it to advance to the UFL, where he is now one of the league’s top returners.
The LFA has played a significant role in this, opening up roster spaces for over 15 American players per team (but make no mistake, Mexico’s top college football league is legitimate and one of the finest in the world outside of the United States), but few have had the same impact as Jeremy Johnson.
Johnson has won two professional titles since moving to Mexico, one of which was in the LFA, and is one game away from making his third consecutive appearance. He sure made it appear easy by posting the following stats:
- 2022: 1,538 yards 16 TDs 6 Int.
- 2023: 2,465 yards 32 TDs 3 Int.*
- 2024: 2,075 Yards 23 TDs 9 Int. **
* Champion with a 12-0 record, including playoffs.*With a perfect 8-0 record, the No. 1 seed is advancing to the semifinals and is the frontrunner for MVP.
Johnson’s success can be attributed in large part to his love of football, which he hasn’t had since his high school years at Carver, where he was so successful that his number was retired, he won the Mr. Football award given to the best Alabama player, and graduated as a four-star recruit with offers from multiple FBS teams including Auburn, LSU, Purdue, and Ole Miss, according to 247 Sports.
“I would most definitely say yes,” Johnson responded when asked if playing Mexico reflects some of his most enjoyable football experiences. “Also, compared to my high school years (…) Mexico has undoubtedly been the most exciting for me simply since it was my first time visiting here in 2022. I had never been to Mexico before, and it was a lot of fun, guy.”
However, the most important component of Johnson’s enjoyment of playing in Mexico is unrelated to the country itself. It is about raising others.
“You got (younger) guys that are wanting to elevate, so you see them and you try to motivate them, you try to get them to understand, how it works, because I’m also a coach,” Johnson stated. “So I attempt to guide these guys and make them understand what it takes. And my most important lesson – and this is the only thing I regret saying – is to never quit up. You never know what might happen. You never know what opportunities may present themselves. “Just never give up.”
At college, his career did not go as planned. Johnson was a Top 4 Heisman candidate in the 2015 summer, but he struggled as a Tiger, going 7-6 and passing for only 1,053 yards in 10 games.
“Auburn was great, man, that comes with the sport, you know, having high expectations,” said Johnson. “I mean, people don’t understand also it was my first year starting, my first starting a full game, my first time being in the SEC really just, I mean, I had games my freshman and sophomore year, where I played good, and it was my time to start, it was a new year, a different team, you know, a lot of different pieces.”
Despite his incredible success as a pro player in Mexico and those bright moments at Auburn, Johnson’s knowledge comes from having learned from his mistakes.
“Man, this is tough. I had a lot of expectations. I was like, favorite for the Heisman, and I didn’t meet those expectations,” a 29-year old Johnson continued” “And it was thinking that I could have done better it was things that my coaches could have done better now that I’m older and I understand and I look back and I reflect on those things, what I could have done better, because you learn more the older you get, when you sit back away from the game.”
Following those early troubles, Johnson went so far as to leave the offense and join the scout team, explaining that he was done playing football. He laments almost giving up, but he makes the most of the experience and uses it to inspire others:
“I tell people all the time, I had the world in my hand,” Johnson admitted. “My draft class included Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, and Trevon Boykin, and they predicted that I would win the Heisman over all of them. And I didn’t satisfy those standards, thus everything is gone. “I didn’t understand that then, but I do now.”
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