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Johnson’s Latest Gig Is Picture Perfect

Frewsburg Grad Has Followed Titans To AFC Championship

Asa Johnson will be on the field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City when the Tennessee Titans meet the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. Photo courtesy of Asa Johnson

There’s an old adage of one being in the “right place at the right time.”

For the Jamestown native, now-Nashville resident Asa Johnson — who will take the field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Sunday afternoon as an employee of the National Football League’s creative department covering the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Championship Game — there has been no truer mantra.

Johnson’s most recent assignment comes six months after the subject of his day job — the Vanderbilt Commodores — hoisted a National Championship trophy at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska after winning the College World Series and almost two years after the subject of his previous job — the St. Bonaventure Bonnies — made a historic trip to the NCAA Basketball Tournament.

“It’s just been super weird. I don’t know how it’s happening,” Johnson laughed, reflecting on this stretch. “I think God is just kind of putting these things in front of us and they’re just working out. It’s definitely been kind of crazy and when stuff comes up.”

“I’m not even surprised anymore,” he added.

Crediting the “power of social media,” Johnson received a Twitter direct message not long after documenting Vanderbilt’s College World Series run from a representative of the NFL, offering him the opportunity to serve as a live content coordinator covering the Titans.

“I’m employed by the NFL and you’re assigned to the team closest to you,” Johnson said of the position. “There’s three of us — two people shooting video and one person focusing on photos — and the main focus is on the NFL’s social media pages. Then, we’ll also send it to the team’s social media coordinator as well and they can use it for Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.” Still, the 2014 St. Bonaventure University graduate and son of Nancy and Bruce Johnson acknowledged that there was a “learning curve.”

“Obviously, I’ve been to many NFL games, but I’ve never shot one,” he said. “It’s impressive to be on an NFL field. You just don’t really understand how fast and how physical the game is when you watch it on TV, so being on the sidelines and in the endzones this year has been pretty cool.”

Initially, Johnson was assigned to shoot every regular-season home game at Nissan Stadium.

Little did he know the season that lied ahead for his home team, and for him.

“The season (the Titans) have had has been really cool to be a part of and to see the team morph into what it is now has been really cool,” he said. “Watching (Titans’ running back) Derrick Henry each week is insane. He just does things that I can’t even imagine. So, watching him and seeing the season he’s having has been pretty cool.”

“The (NFL) said there was a chance at playoffs, but I figured they’d have more people they’d bring in for that,” he added. “I didn’t really think they would use someone like me to do playoff stuff and let alone have the Titans do the run they’re doing. For them to be able to trust me and like the stuff I’m doing that they send me to these places, it’s flattering and pretty cool to be involved.”

Johnson even received a late-season assignment that included a quick business trip home.

“(The NFL) sent a bunch of people to different games to shoot for the NFL’s “We Ready” campaign,” he said. “They said I could go to New Orleans, New England or Buffalo.”

His supervisor was surprised at his choice.

“He called me and said, ‘You want to go to Buffalo? We’ve never had anyone volunteer to go to Buffalo in December,'” he said with a laugh. “That was a really, really cool moment to go up there and showcase Bills fans in an NFL playoff commercial which is cool.”

As for the last few weeks, though, Johnson has been taking in every moment, especially last week’s upset of Lamar Jackson and the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens.

“Being on the field for that playoff game was sick,” he said. “I can imagine Kansas City will be pretty crazy this weekend, too.”

Still, Johnson finds it “uncanny” all that has transpired in the last 16 months for him and his wife Alexa.

“We kind of took a huge step to leave Olean, which is a much more comfortable situation, to go outside of our comfort zone and move down here,” he said. “It’s pretty uncanny. I’m really thankful for the opportunities. I’m just kind of excited to see what’s coming next.”

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