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For those who don't have a StL PD subscription - great read
Posted on: August 31, 2025 at 11:17:44 CT
rlfstl MU
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The term “fitting” comes immediately to mind when you reflect on the first touchdown of the University of Missouri football season, but it doesn’t fully capture the range of emotion wrapped up in one 49-yard first-quarter post pattern by Marquis Johnson.
You can easily get jaded about athletes referring to their teams as families. Even in college sports, it can ring a little hollow as everything about those competitions and organizations become more professionalized, players change teams regularly, and the money becomes more prevalent and prominent.
Then, every so often, you get a reminder that bonds form and relationship establish behind the scenes that turn a team into something more than just a group of individuals pursuing victory on the field.
This week, Johnson provided the reminder with his vulnerability as much as his speed and athleticism. That vulnerability was still written on the junior wide receiver’s face when he spoke to reporters after Thursday night’s 61-6 season-opening win over the University of Central Arkansas on Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
Scrawled in white lettering on the eye black stretched across Johnson’s face were “4:28” below his right eye and “Love U Mom” below his left eye.
Johnson’s mother Denise Bell, died on April 28. She was 39. Thus far, he has not shared details publicly about the cause of her death. However, he has dedicated this season to her, and he’s leaned on those around him at Mizzou.
“Marquis told the team after practice (Wednesday) he was going to need them,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “This was his first time Miss Denise wasn’t going to be here. As a team, we just all said, ‘Hey, we got you.’
“I think it was a really, really tough Tiger Walk. He was crying when he walked in. We just told him focus one moment at a time.”
The Tiger Walk is a tradition where fans, students, family members, the marching band and spirit squads welcome the team to the stadium a couple hours before the game. Buses drop off the team at the top of the hill and the team walks down toward the facility and into the locker room.
It’s a chance for the Mizzou fan base to connect briefly with the team before they begin final preparations for kickoff.
Thursday, it was also when the weight of not having his mother hit Johnson like a shockwave.
Asked after the game what was going through his mind that made him so emotional during the walk, Johnson said, “My mom, just knowing that she wasn’t at the bottom of that Tiger Walk. Knowing that she wasn’t, just like, there.
“Then seeing my people there and not seeing her, just really broke me down,” Johnson continued. “It just stunned me right there. That’s when it really all hit me.”
A Texas native, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Johnson has spent his entire collegiate career playing for Mizzou. He’s actually a second-generation Tiger football player. His father, Domonique, played defensive back for Missouri in 2005 and 2006 before he finished his college career at Jackson State and then went on to play in the NFL.
So family has always been part of Johnson’s connection to the Mizzou program. Johnson played in 13 games in 2023, 12 games in 2024. He worked his way up the depth chart to earn a starting job this season after just two previous career starts.
“We knew Miss Denise wanted to watch him play tonight,” Drinkwitz said. “For him to get that opening touchdown was pretty special, and then for him to continue to make plays and be open — the maturity level that he’s displayed in the last four months has been incredible.”
Johnson recorded a career-high 134 yards on five catches, including the first touchdown of the game when transfer quarterback Beau Pribula found him running open over the middle and dropped the ball into his hands from 49 yards out with 11:06 remaining in the first quarter.
That duo also connected on a 44-yard pass in the third quarter. That catch by Johnson set the Tigers up with a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Pribula scored his second rushing touchdown one play later and made the score 40-0.
“It means the world,” Johnson said of the game. “Like I’ve said before, I’ve probably said it multiple times, everything today was for my mom. So the first game without her, it meant a lot to me. That’s what I did it for.”
Drinkwitz lauded Johnson for the way he has handled everything both away from the field and when he’s been in the facility, calling him “impressive” as well as “tough.”
Drinkwitz also credited Johnson for being “a leader” of his family and stepping up to take care of his younger brothers in the aftermath of his mother’s death. He’s been forced to grow up quickly.
At the same time, Johnson has acknowledged that he’s grown into a leader among his teammates and among the wide receiver group because of his experience.
“I wasn’t really the talkative guy these past couple, two years, when I was here,” Johnson said. “But me (being) able to be somebody that people can look to and ask questions and see what’s going on, it means a lot to me and I embrace it every day.”
Yes, it was fitting that Johnson scored the first touchdown of the season. It was also much more.
You can easily get jaded about athletes referring to their teams as families. Even in college sports, it can ring a little hollow as everything about those competitions and organizations become more professionalized, players change teams regularly, and the money becomes more prevalent and prominent.
Then, every so often, you get a reminder that bonds form and relationship establish behind the scenes that turn a team into something more than just a group of individuals pursuing victory on the field.
This week, Johnson provided the reminder with his vulnerability as much as his speed and athleticism. That vulnerability was still written on the junior wide receiver’s face when he spoke to reporters after Thursday night’s 61-6 season-opening win over the University of Central Arkansas on Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium.
Scrawled in white lettering on the eye black stretched across Johnson’s face were “4:28” below his right eye and “Love U Mom” below his left eye.
Johnson’s mother Denise Bell, died on April 28. She was 39. Thus far, he has not shared details publicly about the cause of her death. However, he has dedicated this season to her, and he’s leaned on those around him at Mizzou.
“Marquis told the team after practice (Wednesday) he was going to need them,” Missouri head coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “This was his first time Miss Denise wasn’t going to be here. As a team, we just all said, ‘Hey, we got you.’
“I think it was a really, really tough Tiger Walk. He was crying when he walked in. We just told him focus one moment at a time.”
The Tiger Walk is a tradition where fans, students, family members, the marching band and spirit squads welcome the team to the stadium a couple hours before the game. Buses drop off the team at the top of the hill and the team walks down toward the facility and into the locker room.
It’s a chance for the Mizzou fan base to connect briefly with the team before they begin final preparations for kickoff.
Thursday, it was also when the weight of not having his mother hit Johnson like a shockwave.
Asked after the game what was going through his mind that made him so emotional during the walk, Johnson said, “My mom, just knowing that she wasn’t at the bottom of that Tiger Walk. Knowing that she wasn’t, just like, there.
“Then seeing my people there and not seeing her, just really broke me down,” Johnson continued. “It just stunned me right there. That’s when it really all hit me.”
A Texas native, the 5-foot-11, 185-pound Johnson has spent his entire collegiate career playing for Mizzou. He’s actually a second-generation Tiger football player. His father, Domonique, played defensive back for Missouri in 2005 and 2006 before he finished his college career at Jackson State and then went on to play in the NFL.
So family has always been part of Johnson’s connection to the Mizzou program. Johnson played in 13 games in 2023, 12 games in 2024. He worked his way up the depth chart to earn a starting job this season after just two previous career starts.
“We knew Miss Denise wanted to watch him play tonight,” Drinkwitz said. “For him to get that opening touchdown was pretty special, and then for him to continue to make plays and be open — the maturity level that he’s displayed in the last four months has been incredible.”
Johnson recorded a career-high 134 yards on five catches, including the first touchdown of the game when transfer quarterback Beau Pribula found him running open over the middle and dropped the ball into his hands from 49 yards out with 11:06 remaining in the first quarter.
That duo also connected on a 44-yard pass in the third quarter. That catch by Johnson set the Tigers up with a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Pribula scored his second rushing touchdown one play later and made the score 40-0.
“It means the world,” Johnson said of the game. “Like I’ve said before, I’ve probably said it multiple times, everything today was for my mom. So the first game without her, it meant a lot to me. That’s what I did it for.”
Drinkwitz lauded Johnson for the way he has handled everything both away from the field and when he’s been in the facility, calling him “impressive” as well as “tough.”
Drinkwitz also credited Johnson for being “a leader” of his family and stepping up to take care of his younger brothers in the aftermath of his mother’s death. He’s been forced to grow up quickly.
At the same time, Johnson has acknowledged that he’s grown into a leader among his teammates and among the wide receiver group because of his experience.
“I wasn’t really the talkative guy these past couple, two years, when I was here,” Johnson said. “But me (being) able to be somebody that people can look to and ask questions and see what’s going on, it means a lot to me and I embrace it every day.”
Yes, it was fitting that Johnson scored the first touchdown of the season. It was also much more.
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For those who don't have a StL PD subscription - great read - rlfstl MU - 8/31 11:17:44