A New Chapter in the Life of Tae Johnson
Life is moving fast for Brauntae “Tae” Johnson, a third-year safety at Notre Dame. He’s never felt more motivated to chase excellence in all areas of his life, and he credits fatherhood and his 13-month-old daughter, Ja’zora, as the driving force behind this transformation.
“I have somebody at home depending on me, you know,” Johnson said after a recent practice on campus. “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 (that) she can look back on.”
Hauling in four interceptions across 10 games in 2025 brought freshman All-America honors for the Fort Wayne North Side High School product. Now he’s aiming even higher as one of the leaders of an experienced Irish defense that should again be among the nation’s best. A national championship seems within reach for the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder, as does an NFL future, perhaps as soon as the 2027 draft.
When he goes back home to Fort Wayne and holds his young daughter, his thoughts are filled with determination and gratitude. “That’s just the motivator for me,” he said. “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 really everything. I just want to make a legacy for my daughter, for sure.”
From Football to Brand Building
Ben Johnson Jr. knew the two-sport star was different from the first time he touched the football in a varsity game. Tae Johnson scored a 27-yard touchdown as a 14-year-old Legends freshman, and his reputation only grew from there. North Side’s sixth-year football coach nodded knowingly last September as he watched his former player flash across the TV screen against Texas A&M. A blocked punt ended up in the young safety’s hands, and Notre Dame Stadium was soon celebrating the first touchdown of his college career.
“Tae Tae will always find the end zone – some way, somehow,” the coach said in a phone interview. “He just has a knack for it, man. Tae is one of those kids; he sees stuff happening before it happens, and then he reacts. He’ll just always find his way to the best spot. He’s been doing that for a long time.”
Soon after last season ended, Tae Johnson started planning the next steps in his rapidly expanding personal brand. He huddled with Marqual Holley, a Fort Wayne videographer who has chronicled Johnson’s football and basketball exploits since the ninth grade. Johnson shared some sketches he’d made of a “Tae Tae” logo based on his lifelong nickname. After some back-and-forth, Holley designed a sleek signature in blue and gold that Johnson now prominently displays on his social media.
“I thought it was cool; I liked it,” said Ben Johnson, 34. “Tae Tae has been his nickname forever. Everybody referred to him as that.” At the young coach’s urging, the official roster for Johnson’s senior year listed him as Tae Tae.
“It was just neat to hear when we were playing games,” Ben Johnson said, “that the announcer said ‘Tae Tae Johnson.’”
Building a Legacy Through Community
Holley’s younger brothers, Dre and DeMarkus Muhammad, have coached and advised Johnson since his early teens. DeMarkus Muhammad, 39, is a family law attorney and certified NFL agent in Fort Wayne who now handles marketing for Johnson through his agency, Divine Sports and Entertainment.
“Tae was pretty involved in a lot of things he had going on that we were just here to assist him in that,” DeMarkus Muhammad said. “Tae was really at the forefront in using his uniqueness and his creativity to help present that logo.”
Next on the agenda was planning his inaugural skills camp for May 16 at North Side High. Registration opens April 17 for the all-day affair, scheduled to run from 9:30 a.m. to noon for youth campers and from 2 to 4:30 p.m. for high schoolers. Admission is free, and other active college football players from the area, including Notre Dame wide receiver Mylan Graham, are expected to attend.
Judging from initial interest, organizers are bracing for an overflow crowd, especially for the morning session. “We might need an extra field,” Ben Johnson said with a laugh, “with it being Tae and the way he gave to the community and the way he treated kids in general when he was here. A lot of kids looked up to him.”
The Impact of Fatherhood
These days, it’s a playful 13-month-old who has captured the Notre Dame star’s heart. “Every time I go home, as soon as I see her, she always starts smiling,” Tae Johnson said. “She knows when I walk in the door. She’ll be crawling to me and stuff like that. That’s just stuff that warms my heart. It’s a good thing for me to see.”
Any pressure that might be weighing on Johnson, whether from football, school, or business, melts away at such moments. He and Ja’zora’s mother, Jerzey, are on good terms, friends say. “(Fatherhood) changed me as a person,” Johnson said. “I’m glad to have her around, you know. I just want to see her. And when I do see her, that’s the best thing. When I do see her, coming from a practice or something, after I haven’t seen her in about two, three weeks, that’s the best feeling, for sure.”
Former Notre Dame defensive backs coach Mike Mickens was the first person on staff that Johnson told “when I did know I had my daughter on the way.” A girl dad himself, Mickens offered valuable advice that helped Johnson process those life changes in his first fall as a college freshman. Irish coach Marcus Freeman, who became a father during his Ohio State playing career, also set Johnson at ease.
“I kind of heard the story, and Coach Free just gave me some advice on how he got through it and how I should move forward and there’s certain things I should and shouldn’t do,” Johnson said. “Definitely a great role model as far as being a father. He helped me out with that a lot.”
A Greater Purpose
Brandon Johnson and Misty Moore, Tae’s parents, work in home construction and health care, respectively. Along with his five siblings, including Bra’Jon, a rising North Side senior who is drawing football interest from MAC schools, Johnson has “a strong village behind him,” DeMarkus Muhammad said.
“He’s matured so much since high school,” Muhammad said. “Since Ja’zora’s been in his life, I’ve noticed that, his parents have noticed that. He comes home to Fort Wayne, he’s spending a lot of time with Ja’zora while the mother of his child, Jerzey, is working and doing what she needs to do.”
The young parents are determined to provide a positive environment for their child. “They just have a working relationship,” Muhammad said. “It’s good to see for individuals that young. It’s just great to see that they’re working together.”
Ben Johnson Jr. has observed his former star player in his most important role yet, that of budding father. Just as he always did on the football field and on the basketball court, Tae Johnson is showing uncommon vision and poise.
“The kid always had drive,” the coach said. “But having somebody that’s depending on you now, it just gives him a greater purpose. His maturity, his work ethic, even the way he’s talking — you can just tell. This kid’s a grown man now.”
