Three years ago, Larry Johnson spent seven days in the hospital while doctors worked around the clock to keep him alive. During those seven days, Johnson says he felt the Lord urge him to get involved again with Tarleton State University and start giving back, so after Johnson recovered, he began investing in the men’s athletics programs at the university.
For one year, in 1969, Johnson played football for Tarleton State. He remembers the lessons his coaches and the upperclassmen taught him about responsibility and accountability. Today, he drives four days a week to watch football, baseball and basketball practice, where he tries to instill those same lessons. Johnson’s goal is to accessible to the young men. To be someone they can come to about anything. He doesn’t try to be their coach, but their mentor, someone who encourages them, treats them with love and respect, and inspires them to give their all both on and off the field. He wants to teach them that they don’t have to score the most points to be a valuable team member; that they can be just as important supporting their team from the sidelines.
To encourage this, Johnson, along with his wife, Helen Johnson, created the Widows Mite Award. Based on the biblical story of the widow who gave her last two mites to the Lord, the Johnsons give this award to the player they feel gave everything they had to their team. Not the player who scored the most points, but the one the team could always depend on.
To the Johnsons, these are the contributions that matter most. While they know their financial contributions have made a significant impact, they hope to be remembered most for the time they invested in encouraging, mentoring and uplifting students throughout their college journeys. For them, the most meaningful measure of success is not what they have given, but the confidence, support and sense of belonging they have helped cultivate in the lives of students. The Johnsons have left an incredible mark on the university, and their legacy is one of mentorship, accountability, and generosity, on and off the field.
I want people to say that, on or off the field, like the widow’s mite, I had a real purpose of giving back, and those people that I give back my time, love, and finances to, they give back as well.
