How Theo Johnson is embracing his legacy as an NFL tight end and his purpose with Giants

EAST RUTHERFORD - Football has always been a big part of Theo Johnson's life.

Heading into his second year in the NFL with the New York Giants, Johnson has done everything he can to make his life entirely about football.

His renewed commitment to becoming the dominant tight end the Giants believe he can become has changed the way he sees the game. The 24-year-old now walks onto the field with a purpose that bleeds into just about everything he does away from it.

"I have to be more intentional with all I do," Johnson told NorthJersey.com and The Record after training camp practice Thursday. "And that's been a big focus for me, and it starts by staying healthy for the entire season, preparing the right way with my diet, adding muscle and changing my body composiiton. I know I'm going to play a lot of snaps, they're gonna ask a lot of me and do a lot of different things. I'm also a bigger guy with a bigger frame that carries a lot of weight, so just naturally I'm going to have more pressure on different parts of my body."

The 6-foot-6 Johnson played last year at 265 pounds, and he says he slimmed down some by altering his training this offseason. He was no longer the college kid from Penn State who hoped to prove he could make it to the league; despite the way last year ended after a foot injury derailed his rookie campaign, just when everything appeared to click, Johnson has his sights set on joining the league's elite at the position.

That quest starts now as the Giants expect a lot from their second-year pro who will be given every opportunity to become a star.

"You want to be the best," Johnson said. "For me, it's learning about everything it takes to get there, and the first thing for me is consistency.

Brian Daboll's Rob Gronkowski standard

Johnson wondered if he had done something wrong last summer when, during a position meeting, he was summoned upstairs to Giants head coach Brian Daboll's office for the first time.

What Johnson soon figured out is that Daboll was calling upon him not as a punishment, but for a lesson in legacy.

Daboll had a video clip paused on his computer, and the play was a highlight of sorts of another tight end he had coached back in his position coaching days with the New England Patriots - eventual first ballot Pro Football Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski.

"There's countless times where we'll be in the middle of a meeting and he'll be like, 'Theo, Dabs wants to see you,'" Johnson recalled last summer. "Pulls me out of the meeting and I'm like, 'What could this possibly be about?' And then he's got up a clip of Gronk just running somebody over, catching a back shoulder, and he's like, 'This is what we expect from you.' I can tell he puts a lot of intentional eye into the tight end position ... I think it goes to show how he feels about me and what he thinks I'm capable of."

"Respectful, but ain’t afraid to scrap" is how general manager Joe Schoen described Johnson directly from the Giants' scouting reports shortly after they selected him in the fourth round of the NFL Draft two years ago.

"Theo Johnson is a straight dawg" was another compliment paid to a player who grew up idolizing Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and Gronkowski. His production at Penn State was not staggering - 77 catches and 938 yards with 12 touchdowns in four years - but his presence certainly was.

In practice, Johnson and Abdul Carter would lock in and engage one another in competitive battles that got heated at times. We haven't seen any fireworks between the former Penn State teammates, but the Giants have not put the pads on yet, so stay tuned for that.

"We're not running away from each other, it's not like that," Johnson said with a laugh. "Me and him, we've had some battles, for sure. Two competitors, we're very talented individuals and we have personalities. Between those white lines, we want to get after it. I have a ton of respect for him, he's come here and handled everything like a true pro, and it's hard to find anyone who's not impressed."

The same can be said for Johnson so far. He has shown soft hands and an ability to run smooth routes at the intermediate part of the field. Over the first two days of his second camp, he has also displayed the explosion coming out of his breaks that Giants quarterback Russell Wilson raved about when he signed here.

"It's tough because there's nothing better than as a blocker, putting someone on their back," Johnson said. "At the same time, there's nothing better than springing free for a big catch downfield and making things happen."

Johnson was infatuated with Gronkowski well before he crossed paths with Daboll.

Even though Johnson played receiver in high school, he wanted to wear an elbow brace because Gronk wore one. There was a catch, of course: Johnson was told he could not wear one if he was not injured.

"I thought it was so cool, he's someone I looked up to, but I never got to wear one," Johnson said, adding with a laugh: "My mom was like, "You know how much stuff would have to happen for you to be able to wear that."

Johnson seemed on the verge of a breakthrough on Thanksgiving last year when he was barreling over defenders and clicking as a real threat within the offense. Then came a misstep that resulted in his season-ending foot injury in Arlington, Texas, against the Cowboys.

That set the stage for what Johnson viewed as a pivotal offseason and attacked his training as such. At TE University in Nashville, he got the chance to admire the physicality with which 49ers All-Pro George Kittle plays, storing away tidbits gleaned from camp founders Kittle, Travis Kelce and Greg Olsen.

Johnson has also developed a relationship with former Giants first-rounder and current Broncos tight end Evan Engram, as they worked out together with the same private receivers coach.

With Malik Nabers headlining the Giants' 2024 draft class, this much is apparent: a second-year leap for projected starters Nabers, safety Tyler Nubin, nickel corner Dru Phillips, Johnson, running back Tyrone Tracy and linebacker Darius Muasau could be a game-changer for the franchise.

"I want to be a physical player, and I want to be a playmaker," Johnson said. "Being around talented players, you appreciate the legacies of the great tight ends in the game, and I want to earn my way into that level."

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Theo Johnson: Embracing legacy and finding his purpose with NY Giants