Ernie Johnson may not be the focus of TNT’s Inside the NBA, but he is every bit as important as Kenny, Chuck and Shaq. He also has a unique story to tell about his life as a father. He has been using that story to inspire others for years.
Recently, Alabama football coach Nick Saban invited Johnson to come to Tuscaloosa and speak to his team. Using his son Michael’s relationship with his basketball coach, Johnson told the best college football team in America about his philosophies of making someone else’s day better and being a better human.
The University of Alabama posted highlights of the speech online.
Michael was adopted from an orphanage in Romania. The nurse that handed the child to Johnson’s wife told her that she didn’t want that baby because “he is no good.” He lives with muscular dystrophy. He did not speak until he was 8 years old. Ernie Johnson told the players that his son developed a relationship with his high school’s basketball coach, because the coach recognized how hard Michael worked every single day and was taken by Michael’s desire to say “love you too” before anyone said “I love you to him first.”
The coach ended up putting Michael on the basketball team to teach his players about sacrificing for others and creating a better world for someone else. A moment where fellow players and other students showed their respect for Michael at his high school graduation stuck with Johnson and made him realize how fortunate it was that the coach and the kid met.
Not just the story itself, but seeing it told by Michael’s father had a clear impact on many. That includes Ernie Johnson’s colleagues in the sports media, many of whom took to Twitter to share Johnson’s message and express admiration for him both personally and professionally.
Michael’s is a story that Ernie Johnson has told before. It was the focus of a critically acclaimed segment on ESPN’s E:60 in 2015.
Nick Saban has as much or more clout than any other coach in American sports. The athletic department at the University of Alabama is not shy about spending money. The coach can seemingly pick and choose who comes to talk to his team. The fact that he chose Earnie Johnson is a testament to the power of the message.
