[Firemangini Ed]

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(snip)

Another former Chiefs teammate, who asked to remain anonymous, said Johnson's problems go deeper than just simple distrust. Johnson's background -- his father, Larry Sr., is the defensive line coach at Penn State and his mother, Christine, is an educator -- probably plays a role as well.

"The thing about Larry is that he's great if you're dealing with him one-on-one," said the ex-teammate. "He's got good values and he's got a big heart. But where Larry has an issue is in the perception that comes with being a black guy who grew up middle-class. I always thought Larry was trying to prove himself to the guys who grew up worse off than him, that he was a street kid who knew about that life."

While Johnson is the only person who truly can speak to that possibility -- and it was raised by more than one source interviewed for this story -- there are all sorts of red flags throughout his career that suggest a man steamrolling toward some sort of crisis. Johnson and his family have acknowledged in previous interviews that he felt a deep anger and isolation from the first days he ever started playing football. Even as an 8-year-old running back in Pop Warner Football, Johnson ran over opponents and felt disconnected from his teammates. He was a shy loner back then, one who often spent hours with his father watching grainy, black-and-white footage of NFL stars, such as Marion Motley and Jim Brown.

(snip)

[NDmick]

he's not a people person... is case is common in america. Its just blown up due to the media attention he gets.

[Don]

That article also said that his parents taught him to be very wary of anyone he meets. That's just plain paranoid on their part and I can see where that probably affected him.

[Popeye's Army]

Originally Posted by Don

That article also said that his parents taught him to be very wary of anyone he meets. That's just plain paranoid on their part and I can see where that probably affected him.

I doubt they taught him to spit drinks in girls faces.

[JetsLookingforDWare]

Originally Posted by NDmick

he's not a people person... is case is common in america. Its just blown up due to the media attention he gets.

That and he beats women.

[WhiteShoeWillis]

Wow. It's the middle of the NFL season, teams are starting to make playoff pushes, we have a bunch of tight divisional races going on, and this is what they're writing about?

ESPN sucks.

[Harpua]

Larry Johnson is a jerk because he came from a well off, two parent home

That must expalin why I'm such an asshole as well. I knew there was a reason!