MSU's
Johnson selected to play in Las Vegas All-American Classic
January 15, 2004
BALTIMORE, MD - This Saturday while Morgan State football's
Sam Massey is playing in the Hula Bowl in Maui, Hawaii, fellow
defensive back Cliff Johnson will be playing in the casino
capital of the world.
Morgan State senior defensive back Cliff Johnson was recently selected to
play in the Inaugural Las Vegas All-American Classic, to be held January 17th,
at Sam Boyd Stadium. Johnson will become the first Bear to compete in the game.
"Cliff is our Jack Tatum," said MSU head coach Donald Hill-Eley. "He
intimidates with the size of a linebacker, and is graceful as a defensive back."
Former Dallas Cowboy running backs coach Galen Hall and long-time NFL offensive
coach Joe Pendry, will be the head coaches of the East and West squads respectively.
Johnson will be a member of the East team.
The game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net, to all Western states and
throughout the Midwest in approximately 40 million homes.
The Classic will have 110 of the top college athletes from around the country
making it "America's Largest College All-Star Football Game."
According to Classic officials, this years game will benefit from moving from
a population base of 100,000 to 1.3 million, moving from an estimated 8,500-seat
stadium to a 36,000-seat stadium, from small town to the entertainment capital
of the world.
"Cliff was thinking about walking away from football as a result of difficulty
he had transferring from the University of Maryland," said Hill. "He
had his whole football career resurrected here at Morgan State where he was
in an environment where he could excel as an athlete, but more importantly
as a good person."
