Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY TYLER JAMES B efore Brauntae Johnson became a breakout star in Notre Dame's secondary as a redshirt freshman, he became a father. His daughter, Ja'zora, was born on March 28, 2025. Johnson hasn't been the same since then. "It changed me as a person," Johnson said. "I'm glad to have her around. I just want to see her. And when I do see her, that's the best thing." The birth of Ja'zora added more fuel to the fire for Johnson to reach his potential. It's hard to imagine Johnson's first season as a father could have gone much better from an individual standpoint. "It definitely motivates me a lot, because somebody is at home depending on me," Johnson said. "She doesn't know what's going on right now. She doesn't know what I'm doing. I want to make sure I leave a good enough amount of evidence for when she gets older, she can look back on. And that's just the motivator for me. "I just want her to be able to get older and look at her father's life and be able to be proud of her dad, like I would be of her. That's re- ally everything. I just want to make a legacy for my daughter." The rest of college football will realize what Johnson's becom- ing long before Ja'zora will. Johnson, who missed most of his true freshman season in 2024 with a foot injury, already made a name for himself last fall when he was inserted into Notre Dame's start- ing lineup in the third game of the season. Then he started the next seven games while the Irish secondary found its footing, stopped giving up so many big plays and started creating big plays of its own. Johnson finished the season second on the team with 4 inter- ceptions despite missing the final two games of the season with a hand injury. He tallied 48 tackles and 3 passes broken up in addi- tion to the takeaways. His success even inspired fellow Fort Wayne, FINDING FINDING MOTIVATION MOTIVATION Fatherhood helped inspire breakout season for Notre Dame safety Brauntae Johnson 24 PRESEASON 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED