By GLENN MILLER
The (Fort Myers, Fla.) News-Press

SAN DIEGO - Brad Johnson is the other quarterback. It seems he's always the other quarterback, an anonymous nowhere man in a sea of more colorful, flamboyant athletes, men with swifter feet, stronger arms and more glittering personalities.

There are two starting quarterbacks in the Super Bowl. Rich Gannon of the Oakland Raiders is the NFL's MVP. Johnson is the Tampa Bay Bucs' starting quarterback, the other quarterback.

Green Bay Packers' quarterback Brett Favre graced a Sports Illustrated cover during the regular season. Johnson and his team beat the Packers this season. Atlanta quarterback Michael Vick is the flavor of the month, an uncanny combination of speed and arm. Johnson and the Bucs beat Atlanta and Vick twice this season. Philadelphia Eagles' quarterback Donovan McNabb is hailed as a prototype of the 21st century quarterback.

Johnson and his teammates knocked McNabb and the Eagles out of the playoff last week.

Now, here Johnson is in San Diego, getting ready for the biggest game of his life and long career. Raiders owner Al Davis' motto for decades has been "Just win, baby." That's what Johnson has done. His regular-season winning percentage of .646 is second-highest among active quarterbacks, behind only Favre.

"People want flash," Tampa Bay general manager Rich McKay said. "They want the big arm and the quick feet. They want it all."

Johnson hasn't always provided it all. At Florida State in 1990, he was benched in favor of Casey Weldon. He was a ninth-round draft choice in 1992.

In his first two seasons in the NFL, with the Minnesota Vikings in 1992 and 1993, he didn't play. The next two seasons he was a backup and threw for 422 yards total. In 1995, he played for the London Monarchs of the World League.

Johnson, 34, kept plugging away, learning the game, honing his skills. Now he's a day away from starting in the Super Bowl. He's the NFC's top-rated passer and was added to the Pro Bowl roster on Thursday.

"You work for things all your life," Johnson said. "To me, just making it in the NFL was an unbelievable dream come true."

Johnson was never satisfied with just making it to the NFL. He wasn't satisfied as a backup. He wasn't satisfied with becoming a starter. Always, there is another goal.

Although the world outside the Tampa Bay locker room may not know Johnson well, the men who play with him swear by him. They respect his toughness.

They admire his dedication. They know his passing accuracy and his seemingly infinite capacity to study and learn Coach Jon Gruden's complicated offense.

"He's very underrated, I think," Tampa Bay wide receiver Keenan McCardell said. "Brad is a guy that people say didn't have everything but he has just over-achieved and he's a player in this game. He is a playmaker in this league."

Sure, plenty of quarterbacks run faster and throw the ball with more zip.

Tampa Bay backup quarterback Rob Johnson could almost lap Brad in a 40-yard dash and win a long-throwing contest against the starter. However, Brad starts and Rob stands on the sidelines.

"But when you are a hard worker and a playmaker, you can always play in this league," McCardell said.

At first glance, Brad Johnson won't stun a casual observer.

"Brad grows on you," Gruden said.

Gannon and Johnson's paths crossed with the Vikings in 1992 when Gannon started 12 games for Minnesota.

"He's a model to watch as a quarterback," Johnson said.

Gannon shares the respect.

"Guys have to play and make mistakes and learn and grow from them," Gannon said. "If you've been around as long as we have, you have plenty of time to make those mistakes."

Both quarterbacks have learned. Both are now in the Super Bowl.

Like Johnson, Gannon's path to the Super Bowl has been long. Gannon, 37, played at Division 1-AA Delaware. He was a fourth-round pick of the Vikings in 1987. Although he's now the league MVP and has seemingly been putting up big numbers for a long time, it wasn't until 1999, 12 years after he entered the league, that Gannon had his first 3,000-yard passing season.

Both men persevered, perfecting their craft through years of training and studying.

"I wasn't ready to play as a rookie," Johnson said. "Some guys are and I wasn't and I knew it at the time. I said it's better to be prepared and have an opportunity than to have the opportunity and not be prepared. When I was a backup, I kept my mouth shut."

Gruden has coached both.

"Gannon is a lot like a robot," Gruden said. "He is like the Terminator. He has got a lot of different ways to destruct a defense. With his legs. With his arm. With his mind."

Johnson has also impressed Gruden.

"A perfectionist," Gruden said. "A great leader. A unanimous selection of our football team as a captain."

Johnson's athletic odyssey began in Black Mountain, N.C., where he was an all-state basketball player as well as a Division I quarterback.

"My mom is a high school principal," Johnson said. "My dad ran summer camps and I always had somebody to play with in the summertime. I had keys to the gyms. Five keys to five different gyms to play in. I lived on a dirt road up on a mountain and if it snowed, you had to walk up the mountain.

"If you are shooting basketball and you miss the shot, you better retrieve it fast or the ball was going down the hill. I have some big legs and that's probably why, climbing those hills. Black Mountain is a great town. ... We had to earn everything we got. We had great people. We would go into grocery stores and you would know someone but not everyone. Everyone was always rooting for you and happy for you and that's all you can ask out of friends, family and a small town."

Now, the Black Mountain boy is on America's biggest sporting stage. He can't let up. He can't relax. Not now. Not this close to a championship.

"Too many of us have gone through too much in our careers to accomplish what we have to get to this point," Johnson said. "There is no happy to be here.

"If you lose, it's a train wreck. We got to win this thing if we want to fulfill our goals and dreams."

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