Athletics Check with Johnny Stanton IV
Join former NFL player and D&D fan Johnny Stanton IV as he explores the crossover between sports and nerds!
Athletics Check with Johnny Stanton IV
Jaycie Johnson is a Foodie - Athletics Check Episode 8
Johnny Stanton IV chats with with soccer star Jaycie Johnson. After retiring from the NWSL Kansas City Current in 2022, Jaycie took her soccer journey into coaching first with the Kansas Jayhawks and now currently as Assistant Coach for the Kansas State Wildcats Women's Soccer Team. In this episode Jaycie discusses balancing coaching with planning her wedding and how she works being a foodie into her career. Relive her University of Nebraska days, discover her favorite foodie adventures, and dive into her passion for coaching (stick around and listen for the special ticket offer for women's soccer fans!) From her surprise draft day to tackling knee surgeries, JC shares it all. Plus, don’t miss her first Dungeons & Dragons adventure and a special ticket offer for women's soccer fans. Buckle up for an entertaining journey filled with sports, snacks, and nerdy fun!
Jaycie Johnson:
https://www.kstatesports.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/coaches/jaycie-johnson-ackerman/2495
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/jayciejohnson16/
Twitter - https://x.com/jayciejohnson20
Producer: Johnny Stanton IV & Anand Shah
Technical Director, Sound Designer & Editor: Frank Janisch
Executive Producers: Sandeep Parikh & Anand Shah
Johnny Stanton IV:
https://www.stantoniv.com/
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@johnnystantoniv
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/johnnystantoniv
Twitter - https://x.com/johnnystantoniv
Athletics Check Pod
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So I was driving, not watching the draft. I had no idea what was going on. I was just kind of listening to some country music, driving home. My phone starts blowing up, like, just,
Johnny Stanton IV:you know.
Jaycie Johnson:I have so many texts, so many phone calls, like, and I'm like, did someone die? Like, I'm like, why? Why is my phone blowing up? My head coach calls me John and he goes, I know you're driving home, but he's like, I have news. And I was like, what? Like, what's going on? He goes, you've been drafted. And I immediately pulled the car over and I started crying.
Johnny Stanton IV:Welcome back to athletics check podcast. I'm Johnny Stanton. This is Travis Reeves. Say hi, Travis. Hi, Travis. Hey, Travis. Welcome to episode eight, the JC Johnson episode. Now, JC is a longtime friend of mine. We went to college together, um, over at the university of Nebraska go Huskers. I was only there for two years, so I don't really claim them necessarily, but it was off very cool for me to see my fellow. Teammates and classmates and, and, and Huskers and fellow Huskers. Yeah. Um, go on to success and JC had a successful soccer career and continues to have one in coaching to the point where actually JC, I got to go with JC to her hometown, which was very close to the university of Nebraska, just in like Northern Missouri, I think, um, near Kansas city. To go to a Casey sporting event, the, it was just the men's team at that point. Um, but she got like awarded and an award during that event. She's basically like a hometown hero, like for their, like for their local area. She's like the one who, who made it and it was very cool to experience that. She got to go on the field and got, you know, halftime, like awarded, you know, key to
Travis Reaves:the city. Basically. Yeah. Like the cool banner balloon
Johnny Stanton IV:drop. Pretty much. Yeah. Raptor Jersey into the rafters. Yeah, not really.
Travis Reaves:But, um, I was curious. I wish soccer stadiums hung jerseys like open air. Yeah. Like a laundry line.
Johnny Stanton IV:Do I, do they not? I'm not the person to ask about that. I feel like Premier League probably does that. Or at least maybe they do it at the NFL where it's like Ring of Honor kind of thing. Yeah, probably. Um, but what I wanted to ask you was, we talked about, um, hometown heroes. Yes. Like for me, my high school like hometown hero was Carson Palmer. That's a really good one. Carson Palmer went to, and, and, but it's, it's tough because Carson Palmer went to school there in like early 2000s. Sure. And then Klay Thompson goes there. Um, so I got, there's, there's some athletes that went to Santa Margarita and now, you know, I thought that I was a success. My best friend and best man, River Craycraft, is still killing it in the NFL. Hell yeah. Surpassed my touchdown, uh, numbers. Uh, I think he has three now. I think he does have three. But, uh, I was curious, who was your hometown hero from high school or just like where you grew up or whatever?
Travis Reaves:Hometown hero
Johnny Stanton IV:sports, I guess it was, we're kind of specifically, that's good
Travis Reaves:because it's not, um, Walnut Creek, but I believe that if there is, where are they, there's another one I'll kill them, uh, Concord area. And if we're talking high school, Walnut Creek, California, Los Lomas high school, without a doubt. Kyle Gass, member of Tenacious D. Oh, cool. 100%. Yeah. Yeah, without a doubt. Um, outside of that, just a bunch of, a bunch of fuck ups, I guess. A bunch of, a bunch of mid ass just cogs in the machine. I don't know, Walnut Creek seems like it's a cool area up there, right? Like, I think I've been there once. Dope C. Uh, yeah, eSpace, great. It's, it's great. You know, it's living in this little bowl surrounded by Mount Diablo. It's a very chill area. Um, what's your, what's your high school mascot? Knights. The Knights. Yeah. That's
Johnny Stanton IV:pretty basic. Hey, what was yours? Eagles. Pretty basic as well. I mean, one, there was, uh, the, one of the local high schools was the Mission Viejo Diablos.
Travis Reaves:That's pretty good. That's pretty cool. It's pretty good. Um, we had a bit with the middle school though. There were the Squires. There was like some linearity. Oh, I love that. Yeah, that was nice. Uh, the area is nice. Um,
Johnny Stanton IV:we, we. I went to elementary and middle school, um, at a place called St. Catherine's, which were the Seahawks. They just ripped off the Seattle logo. Um, and then we became Eagles. So I was a seagull.
Travis Reaves:Dumb. It
Johnny Stanton IV:was
Travis Reaves:dumb. Uh, across town at Northgate High School, that is where some of the Workaholics guys are from.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah.
Travis Reaves:So, big comedy, uh, contingent from the East Bay, and from Northgate also, somebody that I played music with, this guy named Callan Kaebner, who played bass in a band called The Story So Far, and now runs his own studio up here in Pasadena. Nice. Yeah. A lot of art stuff. Um, most of the exports from our high school area would go to like Santa Cruz or like SF state. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And, uh, yeah, a lot of little nerds, a lot of art, a
Johnny Stanton IV:lot of art trash came out of my school. I'm still thinking about the workaholics guys. I met the, what was it? Long haired one. Blake went to Northgate. Yeah, that's him. I got to meet him. Um, huge Royers A's fan. Oh, cool. Yeah. I got to meet him at the layover in Houston or Dallas. I forget which, um, for my layover. Is that a place called the layover? No, no, no, no. It was on the layover to my bachelor party in Austin. Um, and I'm like, Hey, I recognize that he's very recognizable guy. Yeah. And I'm like, normally I don't want to bother people at the airport. We live in LA. Like we, we see people plenty, you know, the, the unwritten rules. You're not supposed to really bother them. Yeah. Um, but I'm like, this is my bachelor party. I'm going to say what's up this weekend's about me.
Travis Reaves:I mean, it's almost like, Based off of the public perception of him, that would be like the Pope of bachelor energy to like, right before you go on.
Johnny Stanton IV:He did. He pulled out his holy, holy water and yeah, it's just Jameson. We were at like a tequila bar in this airport. Hell yeah. So it could have easily been done. Yeah. Uh, you know, who didn't peak in high school was JC Johnson. Um, and we're going to get to JC's interview right about, uh, yeah, right about now. JC, thanks so much for being on the show. Uh, I knew you when you were JC Johnson, you are very recently JC Ackerman. Uh, congratulations on a, I'm sure, beautiful wedding. Uh, how are you feeling coming off of that?
Jaycie Johnson:Thank you, first off. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be a part of this. Um, it feels weird. It hasn't really fully hit me that I'm married. Sure,
Johnny Stanton IV:I get that. I'm like,
Jaycie Johnson:going through, not like an identity crisis, but like, my last name is now changing to someone else's. But I'm very excited. I love my husband. So I guess I will take his name. Um, but yeah, just I'm happy that our wedding day was finally here. We were engaged for two plus years. So there was a long buildup to the big day and I'm happy that it went perfect and now we're past it and I can move forward and now focus on my job and like life now.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah. When you're in the world of sports, uh, scheduling a wedding can be tough. Uh, there's like whole parts of the year. That's just like, even if it's like the best possible time, like, you know, you obviously want it to try to be somewhere between spring and fall so that the weather is nice, but there are just huge swaths of that, that just are not available for a wedding. I know Maddie and I were trying to figure out mine as well. You know, you can't do a fall obviously because football season can't really do most of the spring because of football and the summer isn't great because. There's football. Yeah. So was that, was that it was like for you?
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. So I was, when I was playing, I only had November, December, January off. And so like, that's just three months that you have to choose from. And then now being a coach, those were kind of like the same months I had off was December and January. So I'm like, all right, this is just going to be a winter wedding and we're just, we're going for it. So I
Johnny Stanton IV:think, I think that's fun because people It allows people to all be in the same place. Like my wedding got completely rained out and it was like, it was like the early spring and it was right around the same time where California was having these like incredibly like heavy rains and flooding. And we ended up having to change our plan a little bit and have everything be inside. And it ended up being the best possible situation because everybody was all around each other at all times. There weren't people like, you know, having little like clicks going off and everybody was just surrounding with each other. And Yeah. Being on the dance floor all at the same time. So I'm sure you guys had a similar situation.
Jaycie Johnson:Very similar. Yeah.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah. Well, um, I'm, I know that I, uh, in, in the intro will have explained all of your incredible accolades, uh, including your record breaking freshman year, scoring four goals in a playoff game, which has to be, uh, one of the greatest feelings, like I've never scored four times in a game. I don't think not at the college level. That's for sure. And, uh, I'm sure that you still like have that feeling deep within you that you're trying to try to access every once in a while. Cause I know I do.
Jaycie Johnson:Yes, it does come out every once in a while for sure. It definitely is a feeling that you'll never be able to describe. Um, especially with me being a freshman and doing that, um, in the big 10 and in, in NCA. So that was, yeah, that's something I do cherish.
Johnny Stanton IV:So obviously star striker at university, Nebraska Lincoln, where. We were friends. Uh, I was at university Nebraska for two years. I came in at the same. Recruiting class. You were a four star recruits. I was just some kid from California trying to play quarterback over there and failing horribly. Um, but, uh, you also, like myself had a few run ins with some knee tears. Um, yeah, I think we'll talk about that a little bit more later. Um, I'm sure, but, uh, again, this is all, I'm sure the listeners have heard this all already, but North Carolina, courage, Seattle, Kansas City current, uh, you being a Kansas City girl getting to play, I'm sure you've done a million podcasts about like, how was it like playing, playing soccer in your hometown? Uh, we can get to that in a moment, but now, uh, a college soccer coach once, uh, Kansas, uh, University of Kansas Jayhawks now at Kansas State. Assistant coach. Um, you're, it seemed like you're just climbing the ladder. You're going to be a head coach and division one program at some point soon, I hope.
Jaycie Johnson:I would love nothing more, but this is not where I've been envisioned my life going and taking me, but I will take it. And I'm very, very thankful for the situations that I've been put into.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah, absolutely. I think when you're, when you go through college sports, there's such a wide range of experiences that you can have. And for me, you know, college, college football, wasn't like this amazing experience where I got to. You know, be a, a four year starter or get to have like a one school that I was surrounding myself with and have this like really intense Alma mater feel that like, I'm just going to support and, you know, year after year after year, like I was between Nebraska. I went to UNLV for the, for my graduation or to graduate. I went to Saddleback college, junior college for there for a little while, but you got to be at Nebraska for all four years, but, and you grew up a Nebraska fan. Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:I did. Yes.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah. Can you tell me a little bit about that? And like, you know, you growing up in the Kansas city area, obviously there's a lot of schools in that area. How did you end up choosing Lincoln?
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah, there, there was a lot of schools within like a radius of Kansas city where I grew up. Um, when I was little, a couple of girls that were from Kansas city that were older than me, um, went to Nebraska and like, I idolized them growing up. And so the fact that they went there, I was like, okay, maybe I can see if it's a good fit for me being a little eight year old, not knowing anything in life. And I went up to Lincoln for a camp, um, as colleges, like now they're like called ID camps. Um, way back when, when we were going through the process, it was just like a camp, just like a summer camp, come see the campus, meet some of the players, meet the coach. And so I asked my mom if I could go, I went and I immediately just. Sell in love. It was like love at first sight. I loved the city I loved the campus and like most of all I really loved the head coach John Walker Who's actually still the head coach at Nebraska. So when I was eight years old, that's like when I knew I was like This is the place that I want to have my future. This is where I want to continue growing and playing and just see like where life takes me.
Johnny Stanton IV:So instead
Jaycie Johnson:of like being a little girl playing soccer, like dreaming of like North Carolina, Virginia, UCLA, USC, I want to say smack dab in the middle of the country and kind of just start my, my story and my experience. At the university of Nebraska and Lincoln.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah. Well, what is it, what was it like when you did finally kind of branch out from the Midwest toward North Carolina and towards Seattle, what was that like to, you know, that was there a little bit of culture shock there, because I think. If I'm not mistaken, that was your first time not living in the Midwest, right?
Jaycie Johnson:Yes, it was my first time when I got drafted in my senior year of college. It was my first time moving out of the Midwest. But with like growing up club soccer, I traveled so much that we, I think I went to like almost 35 different states growing up. So like I was aware of like other parts of the country, but actually being fully submerged and like living in a different city that is not Missouri, Kansas, or Nebraska was a little bit of like a shock, but it was a great shock that like gave me a whole different perspective of life and just like other, not cultures, but like just other cities and like what they have to offer and bring and like new things that I can learn and experience. So like. I loved being able to move out of my comfort zone and get into somewhere, an area that I'm not familiar with and be able to meet new people and experience new things. So, like, thankfully with playing, I got to experience the West Coast and the East Coast. Um, so I'm very thankful for that. Um, I loved my time in both Raleigh, North Carolina, and then Seattle, Washington, loved it. But now I found myself back in the Midwest where you
Everyone:belong. I think
Jaycie Johnson:it is. This is like the Midwest is my home. This is like where I have so many ties. My family is so many just like friendships that I've built in the Midwest. So, but I loved being able to experience something other than the Midwest.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah, absolutely. Um, obviously soccer has this like incredibly, uh, Huge part of your life, your heart, like your whole identity, just as you know, football has always been for me, but the point of the show isn't for, uh, for athletes to be able to talk about sports. It's to be able to talk about everything else that you're passionate about. You know, I like to say that I like to say that nerdy is just a synonym for passionate and people can be passionate about a lot of different things. So that there is, there's this great mix. I think that most athletes have, I think most people have that have the, like the jock world, you know, I think jock is, you know, this term that hasn't, hasn't necessarily, you know, been in style recently, but it's, it's the, it's the binary that, that nerd kind of. Goes up against and has like this competitive relationship with yeah, but I think a jock nerd is like the perfect combination
Jaycie Johnson:It is so they get both sides if you absolutely if it's like separated like David vs. Goliath It's like you get both sides of it.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yes. Why can't we all just be friends and be jock nerds together? It's not
Jaycie Johnson:like like it's not that hard to just like accept other people's Like likes and what they enjoy and like what you enjoy, like you can embrace it. Like, that's one thing I've learned when I've gotten older is like, I feel like I was just so closed off to like my own little world and like, Meeting so many new and different people and the experience, everything is that like allows you to just absorb so much more than like what you ever thought like was possible.
Johnny Stanton IV:This episode is brought to you by Hero Forge custom miniatures. Hero Forge is a free to use online character design application that basically means if you want to play a DTRPG and you want to have a. 3d printed miniature of your character. Hero Forge is the place to go. You can print them at home. You can print them there and they will ship them to you. They are always incredibly crafted and designed. And the print process is so exact. It's really impressive. Every time I get to see one of these miniatures. Their character design and customization is second to none. You get to 3d model your mini right there on screen. You can see it as it real time updates to any kind of customization you want. Their facial customization is super impressive. Make sure that you go to hero forge. com to design your custom miniature today. And always check back regularly because they always come back with the coolest updates. They have new content every week, whether it's a new piece of clothing, a new race, Whatever you can imagine, you can make it on hero forge. com. So go to hero forge. com today to start designing your own custom miniature. What's up guys. It's Jon again. I just wanted to thank you for listening and to encourage you to join our Patreon at patreon. com slash athletics check pod, you'll have access to all of the little mini adventures that I run for each and every guest is about 10 to 15 minutes where I run them through a short video. TTRPG adventure. And for a lot of these people, especially the athletes, it's their first time running a game like this. So it's my honor to get to be their very first game master. And one of the best parts about being a paid member of the athletics check podcast, Patrion is that you get a chance of having your name shouted out in the middle of an episode. People like Andy Chang, Camilla Francis, Xavier, Lally, John Guillaume, Jamie Bellen. Will, Zachary Loredich, Ledaria Smith, and Daniel Ciobo. Thank you so much for being paid members. Hope you guys are enjoying the show. Let's get back to the action. So, with all that being said, what would you say your nerd to jock ratio is? I think a great goal, and it's not necessarily correct or, like, if you're not this, Then you need to work to being 50 50, but I think a great goal is being 50 percent jock, 50 percent nerd. I think that I, I do whatever I can to be able to kind of split that, not in just like time spent, which isn't necessarily always, uh, you know, doable, but kind of just within your own passion, within your own like life, identity, how would you. Compare your, your ratio of jock to nerd.
Jaycie Johnson:I think definitely right now, like where my life is, I'm, I think I'm 60, 40, but I think when I like was playing, I was like probably 70, 30.
Everyone:Sure.
Jaycie Johnson:So like, now that I'm retired and kind of, removed from like that daily grind of like, I have to go to workouts. I have to do this. I have to do that. And now I'm like on the coaching side of things to where it's a little bit different priorities. I can like kind of reflect more on life and things and choices that I'd make to where like, I feel like I'm more balanced. But when I was a pro athlete, I was very like,
Johnny Stanton IV:you have to be.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. So now that I'm like retired and removed, I feel like I have more balance in my life. But when I was a pro, there was no balance at all.
Johnny Stanton IV:How much of that, uh, like gaining of that balance and being able to kind of go a little bit closer to that 50 50 and you know, coaching in itself is just inherently more nerdy than being an athlete on the field. Yes.
Jaycie Johnson:And I love it.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah. It's like, you get to be so much more cerebral about it because you're not using so much more of your brain of like just reacting and just instinct on, on the field because you, if you're thinking you're dead. On the field, but, but it's when you're on the sideline, you actually have to be a little more cerebral about it and to really think about it, but outside of the coaching strategy of, of, of it all, how much of that nerdiness that you've been able to find balance in your life comes through food, because I know that you're a big foodie. I
Jaycie Johnson:would say like a good chunk of it comes from that. Yeah. I like, from getting married, wedding registry, all of that. I've like, me and my husband like put certain things on there because we're like, we want to be able to make that happen. Food like we want to do this like we enjoy like spending time together like by cooking or like Finding new recipes to like make and like he's not a picky eater So like
Everyone:okay
Jaycie Johnson:I'm the picky eater of the family because I just don't like certain things like he just does not like mushrooms or tomatoes really And I'm just a little more pickier with like I'm just like picky with certain like taste buds I don't know but like it's fun for us to like Pick recipes and look up stuff and like we got like some cookbooks over like through our wedding registry and like stuff like that It's like I have nerded out so much over like food and like when I plan like recruiting trips. I'm like Okay, like where do I want to stay in the city that i'm going like what type of food is around me like? We, I'm a big donut person. I love donuts. I have a big sweet treat. So like I plan trips sometimes they're at like certain donut locations and like, researching that beforehand and like seeing what is around me so I can see like what cute little hometown, like donut shop they have that I can go to and like eat it and like, or like Mexican restaurants, I'm a big chips and salsa girl. So like. I have now kind of planned my life around food.
Johnny Stanton IV:I love that. I think that's, you know, when I get to travel anywhere, the first thing I think about is obviously like hotels. But the next thing I think about is what reservations I got to make. Uh, I just recently got to travel to Europe before Christmas to go visit some Christmas markets in Switzerland and France. And we got our first experience of going to a Michelin star restaurant in France, and it was the coolest experience because that's like, that's the height of nerdiness with food. Like there's, they're so intentional with every word on the menu and every like gram of seasoning and, uh, and whatever in their food that it's like, like they are passionate to the nth degree. Have you ever had like, do you, can you think of one experience when going out to eat that? It's just like, that is like the pinnacle of, of being nerdy about food.
Jaycie Johnson:Oh my gosh. Um, it really makes me think when I lived in Seattle and I played in Seattle, like Seattle has such a great food hub to where they have so many different just parts of Seattle that have different options that you can pick from. There is an Italian place in the river market or. The city market called the pink door and just the whole ambience of it. It's just out of this world. Like they have shows going on, like people hanging down from the ceilings, like just everything about it. And then like, looking at the food menu, it's kind of like a Michelin star, but like, not a couple of steps down, but like, I just like, that is one of the things I will never forget in my entire life. It's like my experience that I had going to that restaurant, because it's like a speakeasy door, the doors hidden, you kind of have to find it. And then like you go in and then like, you're just transversed into like a whole different world.
Johnny Stanton IV:There's something about the speakeasy experience. That is just, I wish that I could have that in my daily life. Like I know there's something special about like, okay, it's a night out. And I heard about this place. You have to walk through a refrigerator door and then knock three times to be able to find this right spot. And there's something about that. It's just like, I strive for that. Like as much as possible, it's a combination of like finding the hidden gem as well as having this curated experience.
Jaycie Johnson:Yes, and that that place was that for me and like, I will never forget my experience there. Like it was just took me to a different universe. Like I did not want to leave. I was just having the best time taking everything in and that place had to offer. It was amazing. That's probably like mine and the States. So.
Johnny Stanton IV:So I know that obviously, as you mentioned, you are a huge donut person. I also know that you're a huge pizza person and that it kind of goes up between the two. You can't really decide which food is your favorite. Uh, but I know personally that when I was in Cleveland, I had my pizza spot and I had my donut spot. The pizza spot was saucy brew works, which basically was. The bottom, like the bottom floor of my apartment building was basically Saucy Brew Works and it was so easy to just, it's super dangerous and it had great beer and it was like, I'm a professional athlete, I shouldn't be having this food right now. And then, uh, I gotta give the shout out to the Pippins who own, uh, Um, own brew, uh, brew nuts, um, donuts and beer in Cleveland. It is like people literally do pilgrimages to this place and they rotate their menu. It's like theme. They had a Taylor Swift menu at some point last year, like you talk about intentionality. These people are like. So intentional. And they know everybody in the, in the restaurant at all times. And not only are they a donut place that, you know, stays open early in the morning, but then on Friday and Saturday nights, they stay open late for, for the, like, they're a bar as well. It's like the coolest place ever. So I know that you can think of at least one or two donut places or pizza places that you have been regular at. Uh, in what, in the cities that you've lived in.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. So Kansas city and Lincoln has the same place that I grew up going to. It's Lamar's Donuts.
Johnny Stanton IV:Okay. I feel like I remember Lamar's when I was in Lincoln.
Jaycie Johnson:It was, it was like right off the campus. Um, over by like the gas station off of like R street or whatever. It was like right off campus. And then Lincoln later on got Hertz Donuts. Which is a 24 hour doughnut place and me and my husband actually frequented there often like when we were just friends Um, in college like we were best friends and like we would just go there all the time or like after my knee surgeries He would bring me doughnuts as like a pick me up So Lamar's and Herd's doughnuts were like my go to in Nebraska and in Casey When I moved out to North Carolina, there's a little cute place called Duck Donuts, and they serve them to you hot. So like they're cake donuts, but like,
Johnny Stanton IV:perfect.
Jaycie Johnson:They're hot. They glaze them, then you take them. So like, it's just like a warm, like fluffy bites. And oh my God, just a hug
Johnny Stanton IV:from the inside.
Jaycie Johnson:No, it kind of is. I have to give a huge shout out to one of my former teammates, Ashley Hatch. She's the one who introduced me to it. And I,
Johnny Stanton IV:awesome.
Jaycie Johnson:I went there. ungodly amount of times when I lived there. I, it was like 10 minutes from where we lived and it was like all the way to the practice facility. So I was like, After practice, I need a donut. So that was like, not ideal either being a professional athlete, but, and then in Seattle, there was just so many donut places that like, I hopped around. I mean, it is,
Johnny Stanton IV:it's coffee city and obviously you're going to have coffee. You have to have a donut.
Jaycie Johnson:So like, I don't, I didn't have a favorite place there. I would just, whoever, wherever we were getting coffee at, I was getting a donut. So like, I just like, wherever I was at, I Whatever the closest place was, that's where I was going. So I enjoyed all of, all of the deserts in Seattle. Any
Johnny Stanton IV:pizza places that stick out?
Jaycie Johnson:Um, okay. I'm blanking on the name, but there's one in Lincoln, Nebraska that I, it's probably the best pizza I've had. And like the United States, I'm my husband's actually gonna be so mad that I can't think of the name of this because we like almost every time in the show
Johnny Stanton IV:nuts.
Jaycie Johnson:Anytime we go back to Lincoln, Nebraska, we get this pizza. And it's we get pepperoni cream cheese pizza. And it's like, Wow, like, I it's my favorite pizza. Like anywhere I can go. I want to get that pizza. But if there's only one place and it's in Lincoln, Nebraska, And I can't think of the name of it and I'm really disappointed in myself right now.
Johnny Stanton IV:I do remember when I was in Lincoln, there was one place and the go to order was having, uh, tater tots on your pizza. Because it was like super customizable.
Jaycie Johnson:It's really good though. The tater tot pizza was really good. I mean, tater
Johnny Stanton IV:tots are just delicious. Yeah. You can never go wrong
Jaycie Johnson:with potatoes. Of course.
Johnny Stanton IV:Of course. Well, if you remember it, we'll definitely put it in the show notes. Um, cause I want to make sure you give, give shout outs to your favorite places, unless you want to gatekeep them and make sure that like, they're still like hidden gems.
Jaycie Johnson:I wouldn't mind gatekeeping this pizza place because it's always busy when we go and it's like a 30 minute wait. So like, I wouldn't mind gatekeeping it, but I do want to give them a shout out because we frequent there anytime we go back to Lincoln.
Johnny Stanton IV:So now what about cooking? What's your, what, what is like, what do you get excited about to cook? And what's the new gift registry things that you're excited to be able to use like a pasta maker or air fryer
Jaycie Johnson:as I say, I go through phases, but my best friend got me a dual air fryer.
Johnny Stanton IV:Oh, perfect. That's a good friend right there.
Jaycie Johnson:Oh, she yes, we've been friends since we were like eight. So she knows me really well. I literally screamed when I opened that present. I was so pumped. I was like, let's go. This is going to be used. But one of the newest gifts that we got is one of those ninja creamies that you can make ice cream recipes out of I haven't opened it up yet because we just moved to Manhattan. So like I haven't been able to like, actually dive into everything, but I'm really pumped to use that. But for those of you who
Johnny Stanton IV:are not big 12 connoisseurs, Manhattan, Kansas.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah, sorry.
Johnny Stanton IV:Not New York city.
Jaycie Johnson:We are in the middle of the country in the middle of Kansas.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yes. Just making sure that that was clear.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. But I did like a big, like loaded mac and cheese cake lately.
Johnny Stanton IV:Nice.
Jaycie Johnson:Just making homemade mac and cheese. Like my husband has a Traeger. So smoking the mac and cheese on the Traeger, like big, like putting burnt ends in it or like pulled pork or just any type of like fun little twist, like lobster shrimp. That's kind of been like, my big kick is. Thanks. Bye. Loaded mac and cheese that I've just been like craving that nonstop.
Johnny Stanton IV:Um, we could talk about food for hours. I'm sure. Yes. Um, but I want to talk about a little bit, something, something a little bit more that it's something you're nerdy about, I imagine, but not by choice. It's something that you probably know more about than anybody who doesn't have a medical degree and that's knee surgeries, tell me, so I know you've three ACL tears on the same knee. And a meniscus tear on that knee. Uh, I had my ACL in senior of high school, in my left knee. And I tore my meniscus as well, but I never had anything after that. I had a little bit of an LCL, like partial tear, but no surgery. But you had three season ending surgeries on the same knee. And I know, for those of you who have never done this before, obviously ACL is a Uh, debilitating injury for an athlete. You can't really compete without an ACL in your knee. If you can walk around in life and not have an ACL built up, you know, or, you know, you've had scar tissue build up around it, but ACL will just like kind of, it'll finish your season. Uh, and it's happened to you three times, and I'm sure that's something that you have had to struggle with, just that, that, uh, continual risk.
Jaycie Johnson:Yes, um, I actually had a fourth surgery. It wasn't my ACL. Oh my gosh.
Everyone:Yeah,
Jaycie Johnson:it wasn't my ACL. Thank God But I had a fourth surgery and that was why I retired because I just Mentally and physically could not I couldn't do it anymore after having potentially five knee surgeries on one leg It was time to, like, re evaluate my life choices and, like, my life expectancy and, like, happiness of, like, functioning and I want to have kids. So, yeah, I have unfortunately experienced three ACL surgeries. Not ideal as being an athlete. Um, my first one happened in college at Nebraska. We were playing Penn State. And it was my junior year. Was it a home or
Johnny Stanton IV:away game?
Jaycie Johnson:It was home.
Johnny Stanton IV:We
Jaycie Johnson:were winning 1 0. Um, I assisted Caroline Flynn. She scored. So we were winning 1 0 in the first half. We were maybe 20 minutes into the game. And I was shielding a ball to go out of bounds for a corner kick. And unfortunately, one of the Penn State defenders, kicked right through my right leg that was planted, shielding the ball. And like immediately I went down. So a contact
Johnny Stanton IV:injury.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah, it was actually all of my knee surgeries have been because of contact.
Johnny Stanton IV:Wow.
Jaycie Johnson:So that's just
Johnny Stanton IV:unlucky. There's nothing you can do about that.
Jaycie Johnson:Another unfortunate aspect of it all. It wasn't like personally me, like planting, jumping, planting. All in minor contact.
Everyone:Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:Uh, so unfortunately, she kicked me. I went down. I was immediately like in pain. I tried to stand back up and my leg gave out and I collapsed.
Everyone:And
Jaycie Johnson:I was like, okay, something's not right.
Everyone:Right.
Jaycie Johnson:So they did the ACL testing and I didn't have an end point. So I had to get an MRI. I unfortunately tore my ACL and I. Had a grade two MCL
Johnny Stanton IV:spray, which is like a partial tear pretty much. Yeah,
Jaycie Johnson:pretty partial tear. I didn't have to get it surgically repaired. I had to wait four and a half weeks and do like prehab to like get it healed. And then I had my ACL surgery. So it always
Johnny Stanton IV:is wild to me, the amount of time that some people have to wait for their ACLs because mine was a week later. I think, I don't know what it was about the swelling or what, like there was no prehab. It was just, let's get you into the knife as quickly as possible.
Jaycie Johnson:I envy you on that. But no, I had to wait four and a half weeks. I had to like rehab my MCL and then I just did a whole bunch of like, just prehab stuff for,
Everyone:yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:Getting ready for surgery. I my first ACL I was scarred after like I like went through the surgery and I woke up I was terrified to bit my knee. I was like, we're gonna rip something I'm gonna tear something like I had a battle with that like my trainer my mom and my doctor were all like We're gonna do this We'll have to put you back under and we're going to have to bend it ourselves. Like if you want to get back to playing soccer, you have to bend it, or we're going to have to put you under and bend it ourselves. And like that just a
Johnny Stanton IV:couple of weeks there where you're supposed to keep it at like 180 degrees or as close to it as possible. And then, you know, you're trying to get as close to 90 degrees as possible. And you want to, you want to have that flexion under the, Care of a physical therapist,
Jaycie Johnson:but that's just not,
Johnny Stanton IV:that's not where your mind was.
Jaycie Johnson:No, I like was refusing to bend it and my mom's like, do you want to continue playing? Like, do you want to get back to playing? I'm like, yeah, she goes, you have to do this or you're, it's going to be like a worse process than what it already is.
Johnny Stanton IV:You mentioned your mom. And I just want to say, I asked JC before the recording started, how her mom was. Cause Susie is one of my favorite people of all time. And she is just one of the kindest, most energetic people. And, uh, just shout out to mama Susie.
Jaycie Johnson:She's the best. She literally has taken care of me after all three of my ACL. But so she was like, Okay, we're going to have to bend it. So like she helped me bend it. She's also a nurse. So like that helped a lot to having like her medical background throughout all of my surgeries. So I finally got over the hump of like being terrified to bend my knee. I got through my process. Everything was great. I got cleared. I made it through my whole senior year of soccer at Nebraska. I was entering the draft to play professionally in the NWSL, the Women's League here in America. Maybe two months before the draft, I was practicing with Nebraska, just getting ready, keeping like my fitness and everything ready for getting drafted and going pro the last like three minutes of an inner squad, a ball comes into me, my back's to goal, the goalkeeper comes out and just like clobbers me and Immediately I hear a snap and I like black out. I black out. I'm screaming. I'm in so much pain. Like
Johnny Stanton IV:did this one hurt way more than the first one? Oh
Jaycie Johnson:my God. It hurt way more. Cause I did more this time.
Everyone:Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:So I tore my ACL again. I tore both my meniscuses and then I had. Cartilage damage to where they had to do an OATS procedure to, like, repair my cartilage. So this one was, thankfully, this one I didn't have to wait as long to get surgery. I think I had to wait 10 days and then they got me in and got my surgery taken care of. Um, for this one, this was a little,
Johnny Stanton IV:what? I was just gonna say, this is something that obviously didn't happen in a game and also at a time that, you know, You like, this was, this was in all preparation, not for a team that you were on anymore and not from somebody that was even your teammates and, or maybe it was technically, you know, maybe a former teammate, but this is something that you were, you were just trying to ready yourself for the next level and that had to have this whole other level to it.
Jaycie Johnson:It honestly, I felt like I just saw like my dreams slashed before my eyes. Like they just didn't. Disappeared knowing like the draft was January like 14th. I had my surgery December 15th And so like I was I was crushed I was just like it was in a very emotional time because also throughout this process
Johnny Stanton IV:I
Jaycie Johnson:Got called into a national team camp And I wasn't able to attend it because I just had gotten surgery. So like, that also was just something that really crushed me because like the national teams, like what everyone strives to achieve and to be on at that level. And the
Johnny Stanton IV:level that you were at, you know, your senior year, you were an all American.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah.
Johnny Stanton IV:And you, you had a legitimate chance of being on one of those national teams.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. And like, I had a great season coming back from ACL and then having the senior year. Which is a
Johnny Stanton IV:huge accomplishment in itself. Yeah. Like usually it takes a little while. You were like Adrian Peterson out there just like coming off the ACL just at your top level.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah, so like that I just like I was on such a high after coming back from ACL having like the senior year I did having that type of injury and then going into the draft like I was projected to get drafted in the first or second round. So then like having this injury and then having the national team camp call up and then not being able to attend, it was just, I felt like the whole world, my whole world just crashed
Johnny Stanton IV:and burned.
Jaycie Johnson:And like, I know that's very dramatic and I know it wasn't. No,
Johnny Stanton IV:it's, it actually is true. That was like
Jaycie Johnson:my whole world. And so I was just like, so emotional. Like my mom came up and like, was taking care of me after surgery. Cause it was also during like winter break, classes were done. Yeah. No one was in Lincoln. So like my mom just came up and stayed with me. And like, I remember when I got that phone call, I, she had to take the phone call for me. Cause I just, I burst into tears. Like I was just, I was crying and I just could not stop crying. And so she had to like deal with it for me and like had to call my head coach at Nebraska, John. And like, he had to help deal with things. Cause I was just like very distraught and like emotionally just like spent. Cause this was probably a week after my surgery. And so like, I still was like non weight bearing. I was. Couldn't bend my knee past 90. Like I was rehabbing actually both my knees because they cut into my left knee to take my patellar tendon to repair my ACL on my right knee. I was going to
Johnny Stanton IV:ask because the, the process that I went through was like, it's pretty simple. Uh, uh, it's a simple decision that, you know, to be able to replace that. Ligament, you have to pull from a tendon or you have to pull from something else in your body, unless you want to go with a cadaver or something, which is a whole nother process, but usually you just pull from your patellar tendon, the middle, like third, basically you kind of cut it out and then replace it and run it through and secure it there. But for the second one, you don't have that patellar tendon space in your bad knee. So then you need to either pull and that, you know, sometimes they even pull like from your hamstring tendon and shorten it. But now the spot there is too large for the hamstring tendon because then you had to loop it together so many times that there's not enough spot. Like, so all of that to say, you need to have surgery on both knees for your second one.
Jaycie Johnson:Yes. Yeah. So I was rehabbing both of my knees.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:For my whole second ACL, which it kind of like, it kind of made it nice that I didn't have to focus on one leg and like I could balance out everything. So like I did enjoy that, but like at the beginning I hated it because I was just like, I'm in pain with both of my legs. So, but ironically, the draft comes around, I get drafted,
Everyone:right?
Jaycie Johnson:And I was actually driving home to Kansas city. I watched the first two rounds of the draft and I was like, okay. Cause I had a lot of friends entering it and I wanted to see like where my friends are going and congratulate them and like support them. But
Johnny Stanton IV:that had to have been such an emotional feeling that day. How many, how long was that? The, the first two rounds, was it a full day? Was it two days?
Jaycie Johnson:Our draft is one whole day because like we don't we don't have a lot of people that go in the drafts like they can bang it out in one day. So it was I was very emotional watching the first two rounds but I was also really happy for my friends that were able to like experience The draft and the way that they were able to experience it. But I, so I turned it off and I stopped watching and I drove home to Kansas city. Um, cause I was flying out to California to actually go to the all American banquet since I was an all American. So I was driving, not watching the draft. I had no idea what was going on. I was just kind of listening to some country music, driving home. My phone starts blowing up like just,
Johnny Stanton IV:you know,
Jaycie Johnson:I have so many texts, so many phone and I'm like, Did someone die? Like, I'm like, why? Why is my phone blowing up? My head coach calls me, John. And he goes, I know you're driving home, but he's like, I have news. And I was like, what? Like, what's going on? He goes, you've been drafted. And I immediately pulled the car over. And I
Everyone:said, Oh, my
Jaycie Johnson:gosh, it's like, so emotional that even with tearing my ACL a second time. A team wanted to take a chance on me. A team like saw something in me and like valued what I brought to soccer. And I just like was emotionally just, cause I didn't think it was going to happen. I didn't think I was going to get drafted. Yeah. Yeah. I was just emotionally spent is the great, a great word to put it. I was just done.
Johnny Stanton IV:Just immediate depletion because I think it's so interesting because ACL process, you kind of learn like, okay, well, women's soccer is one of the most like. Common sports to actually have that injury because especially because it's, if you're, if you're very quad dominant, like soccer players are, uh, it's more common to have that injury. And in just for something about the woman's anatomy, it just causes ACLs to happen even more frequently than men's soccer. And obviously those teams have had that experience of Having players that have had gone through ACLs and they, so like logically it's like, yeah, we know JC is going to get better from this. The emotional side of it is completely different. Like you're, you just went through. And even harder situation than he did the first time. Yeah, I remember when I broke my ankle, I'm like, I just got on this team. I'm a rookie. Like, this was my opportunity to be able to make a team and now it's ruined. And then I, and then, you know, a year later, I'm back on the team because the team takes that chance on you. It's like injuries happen. Like that's logically you can think about like, yeah, injuries happen. And the talented people will still be talented after that.
Jaycie Johnson:Yes,
Johnny Stanton IV:like that's not what your brain's telling you that whole time. It's telling you the opposite.
Jaycie Johnson:It's oh my god Yes, like I was just emotionally like what is going on? Like I was I felt like numb at that point
Everyone:Yeah,
Jaycie Johnson:so I got out like I'm probably an hour and a half away from the city when
Johnny Stanton IV:Oh, my God. This happened.
Jaycie Johnson:So, like, I had to pull over, like, compose myself. I mean, you were
Johnny Stanton IV:lucky that you were in a place with cellular service, to be completely honest.
Jaycie Johnson:That's also just so true that, like, I had already passed all the dead zones to where I had no cell service to where I was okay. But, yeah, so I was so emotional. Got the phone call. I got drafted. Like. Yeah. The ownership, the head coach, everyone called me like later on, like congratulating me saying like, they know, they knew my situation because I also had to call every professional coach and tell them, all right, I just tore my ACL just a heads up if you want to, want not to draft me, like, this is my situation.
Johnny Stanton IV:What if you just kept it secret the whole time? Right? Oh my
Jaycie Johnson:gosh. Contemplated that, but I knew that was not the right thing to do. But so like the fact that they knew my situation already having like the head coach tell me, he's like, we know, like we saw you come back your senior year. He's like, we can only imagine what you'll do now at this next level. Like with all, like everything that we'll be able to offer. So like.
Johnny Stanton IV:I mean, if you don't have that senior year coming off your ACL, like, obviously having the, the big final year of your college career is what set you up in the first place to get drafted. But seeing, but even more so seeing you bounce back from that is I'm sure instilled a lot of confidence in a team to want to draft you.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. I think that definitely like helped my case. Then being able to see like I did tear my ACL my junior year and then the senior year I had coming back from that ACL tear like I think that gave a lot of people like just like a okay She's she's okay Like she knows what she's doing she can get back to the level that she needs to get back at So I think that really did help my case like my rehab process and like my showing my senior I think that definitely did help me be able to get drafted. So I'm very thankful for that but then I just like And then I was like, okay, I have a whole new life throughout this rehab now, because I was just like, going through rehab, I was just kind of like, I don't know, like, what I'm rehabbing for, like, I needed an angle, like, obviously, I was rehabbing to be just healthy again. But like, for me, I just needed something to grab onto to be like, okay, I need to work every day for an angle. And like, this gave me my angle that okay, I'm working to become a professional athlete, like I have what I need. Yeah. And like, after that, I hit the ground running, like, I was running back on the ground at 11 weeks post op after being non weight bearing for 7 weeks, like, I like just cruised through my rehab process. So like, I just, I'm honestly very thankful that I did get drafted because I don't think I would have had a professional career after that.
Johnny Stanton IV:Just being honest. I mean, a lot of people. You know, I, I, what I've learned since leaving the league is that not everybody gets physical therapy after a big injury or surgery like that and it becomes debilitating to an extent for the rest of your life. So who knows if you didn't get drafted that you would even have gone through that whole process. Maybe, you know, some part of you is like, man, what am I doing this for? And you finish, you finish your therapy early, or you don't, you don't have that same motivation to get back to running as quickly as, you know, you otherwise would have.
Jaycie Johnson:So very thankful for that. Um, I unfortunately did miss like my whole recce season, but I still got to be a part of like the team. And that's when I moved to North Carolina and I got to live in Raleigh and be around the girls. And like, it was just such a fun experience to like be able to be at that level and see the training and like the dedication that everyone puts into that. It kind of just like, Gave me a whole new perspective of like, what I kind of already knew, but like, I actually did get the physical experience at firsthand. I'm like, okay, this is the life that I do want to live. This is like what I do want to do and I can do, I can do it. So
Johnny Stanton IV:were you at every practice when you were out for injury?
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. So I, thankfully I, the North Carolina courage, let me graduate. So I got to stay, I got to stay in Lincoln until May. I graduated like May 5th. I moved May 7th to North Carolina. So then once I was there, yep, I was at every practice. And when does that season
Johnny Stanton IV:start?
Jaycie Johnson:So back then it kind of changed a little bit. Um, the seasons I wanted to say started in like January, February. And then like, okay, so you were, you were gone
Johnny Stanton IV:until
Jaycie Johnson:you
Johnny Stanton IV:graduated and then you joined the team in like the middle of the season or something. Yep.
Jaycie Johnson:Pretty much. And then, like, ironically, they, they won, like, the NWSL field that year. Like, we were champions. Wow. Like, it was really fun to be able to be a part of that. And you were part of it. Yeah. It was, I had a blast. Like, I was so thankful I got to be part of it. Um, that team was a workhorse, like, just every little detail, they crushed it. And it was just, they were very professional. It was really fun to, like, be a part of that group because the girls were amazing. And I'm really thankful that was my first year in the league and that's what I got to experience.
Johnny Stanton IV:Right. Yeah. You know, when I was, when I had my injuries, that's when I realized I, I, Dove even deeper into my other passions. Like that's when I discovered like Dungeons and Dragons, that's when I discovered stuff like comics and my friends that were in that same hobby. Um, was there anything that you found yourself diving more into during these periods of injury? Or was it something that was just like, I am so focused on getting back that nothing else matters to me.
Jaycie Johnson:I was very focused, but like, I kind of just dove into like how the body moves and like works and like that type of aspect, so like it still was tailored to like recovery, but like. I kind of like got into like a lot of yoga and like movement and flow and like, just kind of like recovery, like foods to eat for recovery aspects. And like, that's kind of like, I dived more into like the recovery side of things and like how to like treat your body and like how
Johnny Stanton IV:donuts are the best way to recover as quickly as possible.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah. That's still ever, ever, never, ever leave my arsenal that will forever. I will die. I
Johnny Stanton IV:mean, you need to like, people don't realize that it takes a lot of calories to heal. Yeah. Like, you know, obviously you're trying to like, but you, but you, and you do need those carbs and fats to be able to make sure that it's going in correctly. But people
Jaycie Johnson:do not understand like the amount of like protein and like food intake that you do have to take while going through recovery because your body is going through trauma. It's
Johnny Stanton IV:rebuilding itself. Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:So that's kind of like something I really like dove into like during all of like my recoveries was like, okay How does my body move now? How does my body feel like with this? So that was like my kind of nerd out moment is like diving into like yoga flow Stretching what I like, what am I putting into my body? Like what? And then that's kind of when my love of food also like broadened its horizons into where I was like, okay, what can I cook? Like what different recipes, like what can I add and like take out? So that's kind of what I started focusing on in a lot of my free time.
Johnny Stanton IV:And then can you tell us a quick, you know, version of the story of, of your third or your other knees and knee injuries?
Jaycie Johnson:So Um, this would have been two years after my second one. I would have moved to now Seattle. So I'm on the other side of this country. And this was during our preseason. It was like a week before our first game. It was in practice. And we were scrimmaging, a ball came out to me and like I was settling it on my chest and I was turning out away from pressure and I unfortunately got stepped on. My right leg got stepped on. It was um, planted in turf. And so when I turned, my leg did not move.
Everyone:Yeah,
Jaycie Johnson:I heard a pop and I was like, okay, it bent down this thread before I went to MRI. I partially tore my ACL, so I did not fully tear it. It was partially torn, hanging on my threads. But
Johnny Stanton IV:it completely healed before that because a lot of people I've heard like they re injured because it didn't take.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah, no, mine completely was healed. Like I was great being in turf. Cleats and someone stepping on my foot and I'm turning the other way like something's a
Johnny Stanton IV:conversation about having turf fields in the NFL right now And how many injuries are happening? Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah, so I I was one of those turf turf injuries and I had options to either do surgery or potentially rehab it for four months and see if I can avoid surgery And at that time I was like, I'm avoiding surgery. I was like, I don't I don't want to go through it third third knee surgery in four years. I was like, that just sounds like my nightmare right now and I don't want to do that. So we, my physicians at Seattle came up with like a whole program for me to do. I went through the four months and thankfully I was able to continue playing without surgery. Um, so I got taken off the IR and I was put back on to like the squad and I played in like our last like four games. I got like 20 to 15 minutes, like just little stuff. Then I went through like our whole off season with a partially torn ACL. I had to be very diligent, diligent in my training and like everything I was doing. Like I, like that was kind of like the hardest I've ever had to focus on, like, just making sure I was doing everything I needed to do to prepare for my next season, next season rolls around. I'm doing okay. I get into like a tackle at practice and it just kind of like. Irritates it a little bit
Everyone:and
Jaycie Johnson:like I'm kind of more and Starting to like be in more and more pain each and every day and like waking up like my knees giving out Walking out all of that Um, we're playing did you ever play
Johnny Stanton IV:with a brace?
Jaycie Johnson:And college I did after college. I was like, I refuse to wear this. I did not like it It just caused me so many problems. So I was just like, yeah And it's just, it's
Johnny Stanton IV:invasive for like your normal feeling
Jaycie Johnson:really is. And like, you can also carry your ACL and a brace. So I
Johnny Stanton IV:was like,
Jaycie Johnson:it doesn't really, it doesn't do anything for twisting. Yeah. So I was like, you know, I don't care. I'm not going to wear it. And so like, my traders were like, nice. They're like, it's your decision. Like, we're not going to force you to do it, but I'm like, great. I'm not going to do it. So I didn't wear braids, whatever I was playing, we were playing Chicago and I, I got into a big tackle and like, after that tackle, I was like, okay, something's not right. Like I didn't like, it just did not feel good. And so like, I finished the game out and like, I had to do supplemental fitness because obviously I wasn't able to play as many minutes, like I needed to keep my fitness up and like trying to do my fitness. I was in so much pain, like, I just like trying to walk and run was just not, not ideal after like my adrenaline wore off.
Everyone:Right.
Jaycie Johnson:So we get back to Seattle, I go get my MRI and I don't have an ACL.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:It's completely gone. My body
Johnny Stanton IV:just absorbed it.
Jaycie Johnson:Yeah, you can't find it on my MRI. Oh my gosh. It's just nowhere. You're just
Johnny Stanton IV:playing without an ACL for that much time.
Jaycie Johnson:So I lasted a year, no ACL slash a partially torn ACL. Wow. I don't know how I did that in a professional environment. I really don't, but like pat on the back for me for doing that.
Everyone:Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:So I don't have an ACL. So. Surgery time. I did not want them to take from my hamstring or my quad. I was just like, I'm going to take cadavers because with this surgery, they were going to make me be out a full year anyways. So I'm like, okay, give me the cadavers. Like it takes almost 12 to 16 months for them to even like fully like take and like whatever. So I was like, you know what, we're not going to take anything else from my body. I'm going to take cadavers
Johnny Stanton IV:because a lot of that rehab process is actually recovering from that tendon being severed, like you're, you're trying to build up your patellar tendon and your quad strength because that patellar tendon has been cut into rather, rather than the actual ACL, you know, being reconstructed.
Jaycie Johnson:Exactly. So I was like, you know, I know I'm like, I'm going to take cadavers at this point. I'm over it. So going into my surgery, I tore my ACL, did both of my meniscus and then I had cartilage damage again. Okay. And then on top of that, they added in a second ACL in a sense, like a, a support ligament called the ALL. And it like runs across the front of your knee and it's just like a backup ACL in a sense. Um, medical terms. Sorry, not the best at like,
Johnny Stanton IV:so now you're a cyborg and you're like even stronger than you were before.
Jaycie Johnson:Kind of. And so. I go through my process, crush it, like, it was the easiest recovery I've ever had, because I've already done it twice before, so I was like, this is, this is a breeze, like. My mom also flew out to Seattle and stayed with me for two weeks in Seattle, um, so she had a grand old time with that, um, but, so, got through that, and then, Kansas City gets a team, I come home, I get to play in front of my home team, my family, my friends, my little nieces, who,
Everyone:wow.
Jaycie Johnson:Are like the cutest little things got to come to like all my games, they got to meet all of my teammates and like, just be a part of it, which was like something I will forever be like, thankful for and cherish.
Everyone:Yeah,
Jaycie Johnson:unfortunately, in practice again, I get into a tackle.
Everyone:I
Jaycie Johnson:tear my meniscus and I, I have cartilage damage. And so then I get my last surgery and I was just like mentally like going through that recovery process, going into it, I hadn't fully decided if I was going to retire or not, but like, once I was just going through the process, I was just like, I can't do this anymore. Like. You've gotten
Johnny Stanton IV:down this road, you've fought this battle before. You've already won. You know that you can do it. It's just about your, it's, it's about valuing the rest of the things in your life.
Jaycie Johnson:Yes. No, exactly. And that's what it came down to, to where like, I just, I wanted to have kids. I was going, I was getting married. Like I wanted to be able to like do whatever I wanted when I'm in my mid thirties and like not have the restriction of like, I can't do that because my knee is completely destroyed. And so once I like was maybe two months into my recovery and I could kind of move a little bit because I was non weight bearing for eight weeks and like I started like moving and I was like, yeah, no, this is, this is it. Like we're, I'm retiring. I need to like focus on other things in my life.
Johnny Stanton IV:And that decision has, has must be hard because you were kind of in an in between period. Like it would have been, I think, It's such a blessing to, for most people to get to decide that they're done with a sport because 99 percent of the people who are professional athletes, they don't get to decide they either get cut and they don't, they're not on a team anymore or an injury takes them out of it like you and you were kind of, you were in between, like you were an injury, but you didn't like right after the injury, you weren't, you didn't decide, okay, I'm done. You put your 30 hands up in the air. Like, yeah, you know, you, you wore me out. This was like. You had to come up, come to that decision slowly, which is that it must've been hard.
Jaycie Johnson:It was not easy. I had my surgery in August and I made the decision like, right before Christmas. I only talked to my now husband about it. I mean, like he was a great support assistant. I'm like very thankful that he was like, whatever you want to do, I support it. If that's continued playing great. If that's not okay, great. We'll figure out like your next walk of life. And I just like going through that rehab process, I was just like my body. It's just exhausted.
Everyone:Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:Like, I was just mentally and physically just like exhausted from dealing with all of my knee surgeries and like just emotional roller coasters of my career and like everything that went into it. I just needed to get to a place to where like I wake up and I'm happy and like I can like enjoy what I'm doing and like fully just like. immerse myself in it. And like, I just felt like I wasn't doing that anymore. And so it was time to just like, say goodbye to being the professional athlete, the player, the game that I love, and that gave me so much and find my new love and new passion.
Everyone:Yeah,
Jaycie Johnson:and that's what I did and now I'm got lucky enough to be able to get into coaching at The collegiate level at the division one level and the power five conferences or I guess power for it
Johnny Stanton IV:Whatever that means anymore. I don't know whatever and
Jaycie Johnson:like the big the big conference is and I I fell in love with soccer again, and I fell in love with just like myself again and like I I Like genuinely just like I wake up excited and happy to like go to work and my job and like get to like help These young women figure out like their next path of life if that's being a pro if that's being just like a girl boss in the business world or the medical field or education or like whatever it may be like I Just like get so much joy out of that now and like being able to just be a support system System for them that I've experienced what they're going through. Like, I've done all of it. So, like, I can be in their corner and, like, actually fully understand what they're going through. And I think that's an important thing for just female in sports right now is, like, having someone that understands what they're going through and, like, actually can, like, vouch for what they're dealing with. So, like, that's been something that I'm really, like, thankful that I, like, got to actually, like, fully submerge and, like, can be a part of now.
Johnny Stanton IV:Yeah, well, it sounds like you bring so much to the table as a coach because not only do you have that incredible knowledge of the game and instinct instinct of the game, but you also have that ability to, like you said, help other people go through the same kind of things that you've gone through because no, no team goes through A season unscathed, there's always injuries that have been, and I'm sure you've already experienced them, uh, as a coach with other players. So, um, you're obviously very valuable to whatever coaching staff you are on. So I'm just having known you for like nearly 10 years now. I'm just proud that like, that we got to be, you know, go through all of these challenges and become so much stronger on the, out on the backside of it. So I just want to congratulate for that.
Jaycie Johnson:I appreciate you. Thank you.
Johnny Stanton IV:Absolutely. Um, well, we're going to close up, but, uh, first off, I want to thank you so, so very much for being on the show, for being one of the first athletics check guests.
Jaycie Johnson:Uh,
Johnny Stanton IV:you should, um, but, uh, first off, I want to ask you, we talked about that. Nerd jock ratio. And after, uh, after contemplating on it, after learning that you're a foodie, that you basically have enough knowledge to be a knee surgeon at this point. Um, what would you say, would you, would you update that 60 40 ratio at all to any more on the nerd side or any more on the jock side? Or do you feel, feel pretty comfortable with that great ratio of 60 40?
Jaycie Johnson:Honestly, I think I could lean more towards like the nerd side. Um, I also have like a black lab puppy and he's like my entire world And like anything I can do with him I'm doing it and like we love going on hikes and being outdoors So like that's a whole another part of my life that also was like Completely removed from sports in general and I loved that So I think I could actually kind of be closer to like almost 50 50 You Even more maybe 60 40 the other way. Um, so but yeah, I do love sports. I love being a coach I love to be an athlete, but there's so much more to life than just being over a soccer coach being a professional athlete Like I'm a wife now. I'm a dog mom. I'm gonna be a mom soon. Like I'm a sister. I'm a daughter Like there's so many more things to my life than just being a part of like the athlete world that You Now kind of being removed from it that I see and like that, I, I get to actually fully embrace and enjoy. So I think I could actually tilt it more maybe to like the nerd side. 55
Johnny Stanton IV:nerd, 45 jock.
Jaycie Johnson:Kind of. Yeah.
Johnny Stanton IV:Very cool. Yeah. Well, I'm glad that we were able to help discover that, uh, the very accurate and it's a, it's a spectrum. It can, it can change on day to day basis, but, um, Um, it's, it's very cool to have gone through this conversation with you and to be able to, obviously we didn't get into the, into the dog stuff. I know how, how passionate you are about being a dog mom. But um, one thing I wanted to ask was any of these girls that you've coached or been around that, uh, you know, I Kansas or Kansas state, did any of them know you from your college days or your pro days? Like did any of them look up to you? Oh my gosh, that's so cool.
Jaycie Johnson:Um, ironically, at KU, one of the girls that plays at KU, she's going to be a senior, I actually had her on her official visit at Nebraska.
Johnny Stanton IV:Oh my gosh, that's amazing.
Jaycie Johnson:Or like, or unofficial, like she, I was one of her hosts, um, I think it was like my junior or senior year, I actually like, Took her through like a tour and like answered questions and like talk to her and like, well, obviously you can do a very
Johnny Stanton IV:good job if she shows Kansas over Nebraska.
Jaycie Johnson:Well, she, she lived in Lincoln, Nebraska. She was from Lincoln. So like, so she knew Lincoln. She wanted to get out. Some separation, which I felt the same way. I needed separation from Kansas city. I needed to get out. So, but that was kind of like a funny, like full circle moment. I'm like, Oh my gosh, you were so little. And then now you are literally here. You're a senior, like,
Everyone:Yeah.
Jaycie Johnson:So, but in like a lot of the Kansas city girls that. I, that were younger when I was older, like knew me and knew who I was. So like, that was kind of fun to like be able to like, just see them and like hear, like, we watched you when you were like playing and like, now you're my coach now, but like, they were amazing. I loved it. Um, so I'm excited to like officially meet all the girls here at K State. Um, and yeah, well, you really are
Johnny Stanton IV:like a, uh, a. A Kansas city, like hometown hero. Because I remember one of the first things that I got to do with you. We, I got to visit your hometown, but I also got to go to a Kansas city sporting game where they like awarded you something at halftime. What was that?
Jaycie Johnson:It's the Kevin gray award. Um, so he, his family, he has. Um, four daughters, they all, I played with two of three of them, one in college and the one club or two in club. Um, he passed away. Unfortunately he had cancer, but he was a big, big icon in like the soccer world and Kansas city. And so sporting Kansas city partnered with him and they named an award after him. And I. Luckily got the second annual Kevin Gray award, um, awarded to me. So yeah, you got to experience.
Johnny Stanton IV:I did in the first person,
Jaycie Johnson:Casey match. And then you got fully thrown into me accepting an award at,
Johnny Stanton IV:at
Jaycie Johnson:halftime of that game. So I was a
Johnny Stanton IV:proud friend. I was absolutely a proud friend. Um, again, JC, thank you so much for, uh, being on the show. So JC, what we're going to do first off is, uh, we're going to For those of you who are listening, uh, please stick around if you are a Patreon subscriber, because we're going to run a little Dungeons Dragons game with JC. She just pulled up an online dice roller for, I'm pretty sure, the first time. Um, and we're gonna, we're gonna run you through a, just a short little micro adventure, just to give you the feel of what Dungeons Dragons is like. Give you a little bit of a, uh, Uh, taste tester, um, but for being, uh, on my show, I want to put your jersey in the rafters. Like I'm sure it already is in so many different places, but, um, well, we're not going to choose your, your sports jersey. Okay. Um, I don't know if you had a number that you were attached yourself to, but forget about that. I
Jaycie Johnson:have, I have two that I was attached to.
Johnny Stanton IV:So you have two, well, you're gonna have three now because Let's go. What you're gonna do is you're gonna roll a D 100 For me, it's a 100 sided d Usually you just do 2D, 2D 10. One is a tens place, one is a, uh, is a one's place. And you're going to roll a D100 and determine what jersey number is going to go up in the rafters. Right now, we have, uh, 87 and 39 and 44 are taken. So as long as we roll a different number than those three, then you're going to be good to go.
Jaycie Johnson:Okay.
Johnny Stanton IV:Alright, when you're ready.
Jaycie Johnson:I'm gonna hit it. Okay. I got six.
Johnny Stanton IV:Six is great. That's a great number right there. Six is now being risen to the rafters of the Athletics Czech Stadium, uh, with Ackerman. It says Johnson, but then it says crossed out Ackerman, a name up on the jersey. Um, and the last thing I'd like you to do as we finish up is first off, is there anything you'd like to plug your social media, go to a Kansas state game? What is there anything you'd like to plug?
Jaycie Johnson:Um, well, if anyone is ever like in a big 12 area and gay state, women's soccer is playing, please DM me on Instagram. Um, JC Johnson, 16. Uh, my last name is still Johnson on Instagram. Um, I will show up in purple. Yes. I'll get you tickets. Um, or if you're in Manhattan and the little apple, um, I will happily get you anyone tickets to come to a game and support women's soccer. We have a sick stadium. First off. Um, it's just for soccer and it's just for the women's team cause we don't have a men's team. So come on out, please message me on Instagram. I will happily get tickets for people. Um, yeah,
Johnny Stanton IV:that's a, that's a big offer and uh, I hope my listeners, uh, Take full advantage of it. JC will absolutely get you in there. Um, we'll, we'll see. Hopefully people aren't like listening to this three years down the line or something like that. Anyway, um, last thing I'd like for you to do is the show is called athletics check. I know you don't totally understand yet what an athletics check is, but I'd love for you to roll a D 20 and roll me an athletics check.
Jaycie Johnson:All right. D 20
Johnny Stanton IV:higher number. And we're going to give you a, we're going to give you a plus three bonus here.
Jaycie Johnson:Is this like, okay, side note, I've been seeing your Instagram reels of you doing workouts. I'm not going to have to do a workout, right?
Johnny Stanton IV:No, no, no, no. You can, if you like, you can, you can follow along on the roll for gains if you like, but this is just to see how, how well you rolled for an athletic check for this show.
Jaycie Johnson:All right. Ready?
Johnny Stanton IV:Ready.
Jaycie Johnson:I got one of my favorite numbers, 16
Johnny Stanton IV:sixteen's. Great. And I give you a plus three modifier. You're gonna finish with a 19. 19 is is gonna get you absolutely. Another full four goal performance and, uh, hey, 19. Worth my college number.
Jaycie Johnson:So there
Johnny Stanton IV:you go. Um, well, JC again, thank you so much. Uh, if you are a breach UN subscriber, stick around. If you aren't. Please consider following athletics check and subscribing, um, on Patreon. But, uh, if you are finishing here, thank you so much for listening. Thank you, JC, for being on the show and everyone at home, roll me an athletics check. All right. Thanks for listening, everyone. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to rate it and leave us a review. You can find us on YouTube. Apple podcasts, Spotify, and everywhere else. Podcasts can be found. Don't forget. We do have a Patreon in which we talk to each of our guests about playing Dungeons and Dragons, and I run them a little adventure. I hope you guys do enjoy that. If you are a patron subscriber. Audio editing and music by the incredible co host Travis Reeves, video production and editing by Frank Janish. And I'm your host, Johnny Sand IV. To find out more about what I do, check out my website, stantoniv. com. This has been an effing funny production. We'll catch you next time, but until then, can you roll me an athletics check?
