When Michael Johnson sat down with Bengals president Mike Brown Saturday afternoon to begin his free-agent visit, it wasn't your typical introductory discussion.
Brown was there in the draft room in 2009 at the top of the third round when he approved of the decision to draft Johnson and Johnson saw Brown watch all of his practices during his five seasons.
So it was two familiar guys sitting down for a chat and Johnson said they didn't even discuss football. They chatted about Johnson's hometown of Selma, Ala., and Johnson told Brown about his experience last week when he joined President Barack Obama marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to salute the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday." Johnson's mother participated in one of the original marches.
"We talked about that and my mother's role and he talked about what his father did," Johnson said of Paul Brown's role in integrating pro football. "We were both saying how sports can be a major factor in helping society."
