April has been a big month in the Johnson household.
From a 4:30am wake up call last week on Tuesday for a trip to Augusta National, to a birthday celebration for my middle child’s stuffed animal on Thursday afternoon, the month has been full of unique family experiences.
For my oldest daughter and I, the trip to what should be considered the 8th wonder of the world was something that will not be soon forgotten.
I made a mistake when I was younger, turning down a chance to go to the Masters in 2018 on the Sunday in which Spieth, Fowler, and Reed went at it before finishing 3-2-1 respectively.
What would quickly be realized as a bucket list item as I began to get older and appreciate golf more (and soccer) had paled in comparison at the time to a much more instantly-gratifying opportunity in Memphis.
Back in 2018, former Atlanta Falcons QB (and my second favorite athlete of all-time behind Allen Iverson) Michael Vick was looking to find his role in the game of football after hanging up the cleats.
With a side gig in broadcasting, Vick was eager to work with the next generation of athletes, and was scheduled to be in Memphis, Tenn. on that Sunday for a football camp.
I wasn’t really aware of the camp originally. I had heard he would be in town, but didn’t realize that he was looking to have someone like myself there to help him spot the talent.
What happened next, I thought at the time, was going to change my life forever. I remember having just sat down at a restaurant in Oxford after ordering my food when my phone lit up.
“Michael Vick: Yo Russell”
I cleaned my glasses several times, surely that couldn’t be right? THE Michael Vick had reached out to me?
Throughout our conversation, he asked if I’d be interested in working the camp on that Sunday, and working alongside him to determine MVP’s, set up best-on-best, and get video out there of the event.
I jumped at the chance, even denying the chance to have my gas reimbursed out of excitement.
And so I thought that my chance to ever go to the Masters had come and gone. Especially when my sister had moved from Augusta to Colorado.
Then this opportunity presented itself. Up until the very last minute, I wasn’t sure if I was even going to make it to Augusta this time either.
I had just gotten back from a week off of my day job for a trip to Florida, and my wife and I were unable to find a babysitter that could handle watching both non-school age kids.
After getting home from work the Monday before, in talking with my oldest, she asked what my plan was for “The Tuesday” she called it.
I told her that my plan was still really unknown, but that I really wanted to go to the Masters if I could figure out a wa… wait.
Why didn’t I just take Emory, call her off of school, and call off work?
That last statement was likely the hardest thing to do, as those of you who know me best know that I am sometimes a little bit too dedicated to my work.
Moments before leaving for softball practice that Monday, I sent a long text to my boss letting them know that I had won tickets to the Masters, and that I wouldn’t be able to work the following day.
All of softball practice and tee ball practice (yes, I coach both even though I thought I had retired) my mind was racing. What does one wear to the Masters? Will Emory be the only kid at the event? Is she even going to have fun? Did I just make a huge mistake?
Then I remembered the feeling once I truly understood the magnitude of what it meant to miss that Sunday at the Masters. I wasn’t going to let fear consume me. We were going to Augusta.
Outfits are picked, the car is packed, and we hit the road well before the sun rose that Tuesday morning.
In between Taylor Swift songs (curse you SiriusXM for giving her her own channel to only play her music) Emory and I talked about what we wanted to see while we were there.
Going to the shop was obviously important, but so was seeing the guys skip balls on the water at 16. We had to get at least once commemorative cup each. Seeing Tiger Woods was on the list, too.
As a dad, sometimes it is easy to get caught up in everything you want to do or see in these situations. I like to think that every morning I wake up a better dad (and husband) than i was the day before. Some days are easier than others, but looking back I feel like I woke up that Tuesday morning ready to conquer the world with Emory. We were going to do EVERYTHING in one day at AGNGC.
After driving through some torrential rains throughout the morning, we got to Augusta and things were just starting to clear up weather wise.
We had a plan in place, both if it did rain and if it cleared up.
The biggest issue with the Masters is for someone in an on-demand profession like I am with this position on JOL, it can sometimes be nearly impossible to go minutes without your phone. Going hours without it was petrifying, in theory.
As I have grown as a father, a husband, and overall as a person, I feel I’ve gotten better at the whole “work-life balance” thing.
Going to the Masters was going to be a true test of the level of that improvement.
After parking at the Masters, Emory and I sat in the car for a while, as I played through every scenario of what could happen while I had no phone service in my head.
After preparing as much as one can with Taylor Swift blaring and a 10-year old singing in the back seat, we began the trek from the parking lot.
“Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi, Texas, Kentucky, North Dakota,” Emory rattled off, listing all the different license plates she saw as we walked in.
After walking in, we quickly realized that Augusta National was much more than hype and trees.
The atmosphere around the course is unmatched, to the point that Emory looked over at me and said, “I have no idea how we are going to take pictures with this disposable camera that will do this place justice.”
As we continued our walk towards the course, taking pictures at memorable places like the course record area, we walked by the scoreboard where they had listed where the golfers were at that were practicing, and I overheard one of the workers mentioning Tiger Woods.
“He’s probably only going to do 9 holes today, and he’s doing the back 9,” the worker said.
After hearing that, we knew that we needed to be quick in the Pro Shop if we were going to see him.
When walking towards it, the line didn’t appear to be too bad at first as we approached it. As we entered the line, a Masters’ worker comes up to us and says “looking to get in the pro shop line?” And then pointed to what looked an entirely separate line in the distance.
As we walked for what felt like 45867 miles to the end of the line, and proceeded to wait the next 90 minutes in the line, we began to face the reality that we might not be able to see Tiger Woods.
After finishing up at the Pro Shop, we had walked out and were headed to the course. As we were walking towards the first tee, Emory pointed to a big group of people following one individual walking towards the clubhouse.
There he was. Tiger Woods. He’s aged significantly, but the vibe around him and his following is still INTENSE.
From there, Emory and I would go on to walk over 25,000 steps each throughout the day, enjoying the company of each other, talking and pointing things out as we saw them, and having a blast. Watching the balls skip off the water was unlike anything I had ever seen in my 30+ years of life.
For that six hour span, I wasn’t Rivals Russell. I wasn’t Russell at all. I was dad, and I like to think that will be a time that neither Emory or I will ever forget.
Nothing against you, Michael Vick, but this DEFINITELY finishes on top.
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Kelly has been on the road the last two weekends at Rivals Camps, and this weekend is where things REALLY pick up for both he and I.
The Atlanta edition of the Rivals Camp takes place this weekend, and it is expected to be a loaded event. Coming off of a winning season, a bowl win, and spring practice, recruits are going to be excited to talk about Georgia Tech football.
That isn’t something that has always been the case since I joined the site on a permanent basis in back in 2018.
The start to the 2025 class has began to catch the attention of HS recruits and coaches as well. I’ll be interested to see what they have to say about things.
The camp will be broken up as it has been in recent years, with the OL/DL kicking off the day and the skills players showing up in the afternoon.
While I can’t promise you it’ll be a big day for the program, I can promise you it will be a big day for the site. We’ll have updates on numerous top targets throughout the day, as well as some updates on guys that have seen contact cool off from GT as they make pushes for others.
I’ll stay throughout the end of 1v1’s, and from there will hustle back to get a notebook up, both with more in-depth updates position by position but also with my takeaways and standout performers.
The Rivals National team will have their standard content next week on the event, but I plan to have my own as well.
I look forward to sharing that with you.
From there it will nearly be time for HS spring practice to begin, and while I will obviously be making a trip to Grayson HS in May, I’ve got some other stops in the works as well.
In between the camp this weekend and the beginning of May, there will be a massive update done to the 2025 offer list pinned to the top of the message board.
This seems to be an exciting time to be a Georgia Tech fan, both in football and basketball.