Unbeknownst to the Chargers’ front office, Johnson quietly hoped he’d get a chance to play for the Bolts in 2015. Knowing he was likely to be released by the 49ers, Johnson started watching Philip Rivers highlight videos on YouTube during the offseason and he did so picturing himself wearing No. 11 and catching passes from Rivers.
Johnson spent many of his formative years living in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood in San Francisco. It was an area rife with gangs, drugs and an extremely high homicide rate. His mother Rhonda and stepfather Andre “Herm” Lewis kept Johnson active in sports and it helped him to steer clear of trouble. When Johnson was a teenager, the family left the city and moved to nearby Fairfield where he attended Rodriguez High School, the same school that produced Jason Verrett, the Chargers’ first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. When Johnson attended Rodriguez, however, the school didn’t have a football team and it didn’t field one until his junior year in 2003. Undeterred, Johnson began playing immediately and as one of the team’s best athletes, he played all over the field. One position he didn’t play though was wide receiver. Then late during his senior year, Johnson attended a football camp at Stanford University and coaches placed him in a group with defensive backs. Johnson felt over-matched against the wide receivers, so he quietly switched sides and began working out with them instead of against them. Coaches were impressed by his talents as a wide receiver and it gave Johnson a ticket first to Chabot College and then to the University of Kentucky, which plays in the ultra-competitive SEC.
Johnson has long considered himself to be unique and he’s done many things throughout his life that some might consider unconventional.
In high school, he showed up at the senior prom with an LED panel attached to his tuxedo that flashed his nickname “Stevie Styles” in bright lights. His date that night was a woman he went on to marry in 2006, wife Britney.
When Johnson arrived at the University of Kentucky, most of the Wildcats’ wide receivers wore numbers in the 80s, Johnson selected 13. He wore the number as well early in his NFL career, reasoning that if you connected the 1 and the 3 it would form a B, his affectionate nickname for his wife.
As an adult, Johnson’s body is covered in tattoos, all with significant meaning. The most significant of them is a tribute to his mom, who died in her sleep in December 2014. An avid supporter of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals), Johnson also has several tattoos supporting the organization’s “Ink Not Mink” anti-fur platform.
Johnson’s father, Steve, Sr., and his stepfather both played an important role in his life. His stepfather is now an executive in the music industry, but he didn’t always walk the straight-and-narrow path. Lewis spent time locked up earlier in his adolescence, but he turned his life around and became a community activist in addition to his career as a rap producer. Johnson’s cousin is rapper Ya Boy and Johnson himself has dabbled in the music game, releasing a rap song himself with rap artist The Game.
Johnson and Britney have two daughters, Miyah and Mia Bella, and a son, Armani.
http://www.chargers.com/news/2015/07/02/all-you-need-know-about-stevie-johnson