Keyshawn Johnson’s history lesson began with a question. In 2020, Bob Glauber, a Newsday reporter, wanted to write a book about Kenny Washington and Woody Strode, whose signings to the Los Angeles Rams in 1946 broke an effective ban on Black players in the N.F.L.
Glauber figured he would ask Johnson, who had been an outspoken member of the Jets in the late 90s when Glauber covered the team, about them. Johnson, like both players, is a Los Angeles native, though he played college football at U.S.C. long after Washington and Strode were standouts on the same 1939 U.