Carolina Panthers defensive end Charles Johnson never celebrated Father’s Day while growing up in Hawkinsville, Ga.
The town of less than 6,000 people was large enough to contain Johnson’s mother, Jacqueline Kearney, and his grandmother, aunts, coaches and friends, all of whom had a hand in raising him.
It was small enough for relatives and friends to point out Johnson’s father, a man named “Johnny” who worked in a small auto shop a short distance from his home.
Hawkinsville was also small enough for Johnson to see the man often around town, visiting some of his 13 other children – two of whom lived across the street.