Former NFL player gets first win as Standardbred trainer

WOODSTOCK, VA — 4/27/2023 —- Former NFL player Oscar Johnson Jr. got his first pari-mutuel win ever as a harness racing trainer at Shenandoah Downs this past Saturday (April 22) with Dr. Scott Woogen’s pacer KJ Erich (Roll With Joe), then four races later — albeit the next afternoon — struck again with Woogen’s Just A Passenger (Cayenne Turbo) in Sunday’s fourth race.

Johnson has been involved with harness racing for years as a co-owner in horses, but this was the first one at a pari-mutuel track where he was listed in the program as trainer. Oscar has established himself in the world of harness racing and he has a very interesting story that led him to his current position.

His first love in life was football. He had a five-year NFL career after playing collegiately for the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs — Terry Bradshaw’s alum — where he was an offensive lineman. He chose Tech over schools including Baylor, Marshall, Mississippi State, Troy and UAB. He was drafted in 2013 and played guard for the Tennessee Titans for three seasons before heading to the Carolina Panthers for the last two years of his career.

“I loved getting to be around that great atmosphere and college life especially coming from a country town. It was very exciting” said Johnson about his journey coming from the small town of Crystal Springs, Mississippi and going on to play football at a Division I school then at the pro level.

“In the NFL, I loved getting to travel and to be around people with different mindsets, positive people and hardworking people,” he said. “Everyone is dedicated to it.”

He showed a particular enthusiasm for playing in Cincinnati against the Bengals. “I have to say Cincinnati (Ohio) was my favorite place to play. The crowd was just different.” He named his fellow Tennessee Titan Chance Warmack as his favorite person he ever got to play with in the NFL.

Initially, Oscar was an undrafted free agent in the 2013 draft. He described his experience on draft day as being “Very emotional and long. You’ve got to be patient waiting around to see if your name is going to be called, but it’s still very exciting.” He was picked up by the Titans after the draft.

Even when he was playing football at the highest level, Johnson was always involved with harness racing. During his career on the field, he still shipped horses with his longtime friend Lawrence Cooper — who has competed in Woodstock since the track opened in 2016 — and whenever he got the chance, loved to come out and watch the harness races. He never wanted to leave the NFL but when he had a surgery on his shoulder that slowed him down on the field, Oscar was happy to have another passion to fall back on full time.

Johnson is happy in his new career and sees the challenges that come with training racehorses to be part of the process. “I don’t really struggle because, like I said, I’ve been around it so long, I got a bunch of people that helped me that have been in the game a long time. So, any type of problem I run across, I just go straight to them.”