State championship celebrations are usually times for restrained, honorable celebrations. Sometimes players are overcome with tears at the thought of a long season of accomplishments coming to an end. Sometimes school pride and fight songs come to a loud, cacophonous crescendo.
Evidently someone forgot to mention that traditional protocol to superstar Florida running back Duke Johnson. After turning in one of the most efficiently dominant playoff performances in the country, Johnson did what he clearly had been holding back from doing all postseason: He donned the most preposterous looking headgear connected to his presumptive future college destination that he could get his hands on.
As you can see in the photo above, Johnson is definitely planning on attending the University of Miami. Unless something goes quite astray, the Miami (Fla.) Norland High rusher extraordinaire will eventually sign with the Hurricanes and will probably make an impact sooner rather than later. If there were any questions about his virtually undeniable talent, they should have been answered with his 130-yard state title game performance which included a jaw-dropping five total touchdowns.
Even if Miami decides not to use Johnson as a primary back as a freshman, he should be able to contribute right off the bat on kick returns, as he proved by bringing back a Wakulla (Fla.) High kickoff 60 yards with an incredible burst.
By game's end, Johnson had racked up 266 total yards. Yet, as FlaVarsity.com reported, he flashed the near-universally recognized "the U" hand signal nearly as many times as he touched the ball; an unofficial FlaVarsity count of Hurricane pride cited Johnson throwing up "the U" at least 12 times.
Then topping off that school pride -- quite literally -- there was the ridiculous foam Sebastian the Ibis head, which appeared for all the world to be a celebratory flourish taken straight out of the Marshawn Lynch playbook, with a touch of Lee Corso mixed in for good measure.
If Johnson goes on to achieve what Lynch already has, there's little doubt that Miami fans and supporters of whichever NFL team he eventually becomes a part of will be thrilled, regardless of his potential antics.
Still, for the time being, some may question his choice of celebratory postgame head gear, particularly when he's at least four months away from signing his name on a piece of paper that officially makes him a Hurricane. The question is whether donning such a head piece unintentionally cheapened the accomplishment for any of Johnson's teammates or title game opponents.
Regardless of those considerations, if there was any question that Johnson's signing day ceremony is a must watch affair, those should be as forgotten as any questions about his ability to achieve success at the next level.
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