Good God. This gave me goosebumps. RJ was my hero growing up. I’m 50 now and I’ll still say he was the greatest. In Australia we didn’t get much coverage, but it’s a given he was the man. To see this is so confronting, yet uplifting. I was ill for years. And tried to end it. This makes RJ human to me. We all have our own demons to fight. God bless you Ricky. Thank you for the memories

That was Soo fricken powerful. Loved RJ when I was a kid, had no idea what he went through mentally. I'm in a dark place right now and this interview was a Good Send to me.🙏

@alexspain5797

Жыл бұрын

Hope it gets better whatever your going through Michael. God will get you through it

@4spbiz

Жыл бұрын

Believe things can get better. One step at a time.

@justinwuest1184

Жыл бұрын

You and me both .. but things will get better bro bro , stay strong and positive. We can do it , and just remember the sun will come up tomorrow and it's a brand new day . You got this my dude

@justincoats7236

Жыл бұрын

Michael, so many people care about you. Please start a gratitude journal. Write in it every night. God blesses those who are grateful. Please do this it will help. You also need to exercise, it just give you hope that you are improving. Read some scripture 1st thing every morning and pray at least twice a day. Last, you need to find a hobbie (Not just video games). Something that involves being physical. I mechanic on stuff with my buddy. Get a best friend, that's into things you're into. Best wishes.

@ianmangham4570

Жыл бұрын

Buy a TORCH

This was a Mirical to me right now. Rick Johnson was my idol. He is a bigger human then I realized.

I always knew you were a great rider, now I know you are a great person! Sharing this may be your greatest achievement yet!

@mikeandrews1899

Жыл бұрын

He was a great champion .... And is even a greater person 👍

@stevenleslie8557

9 ай бұрын

Sharing your story with everyone will be far more significant than any championship you ever could have won.

wow the best interview with Rick Johnson. David Bailey and Rick were my heros. I raced Pro-Am motocross, never made it to national pro, because just after getting a Honda support sponsorship I completely blew out my knee(more like almost completely ripped it off ) and it took 2 years to recover, and decided to go to university and leave the sport

Wow what a powerful interview im 54 years old and grew up riding all through this mans career, i knew nothing about him except the track and the championships and wins and loses what a strong man God bless you and your family Rick Johnson 🙏

Wow! thanks Ricky for being so bold to tell people your journey - love the message - God Bless-

Wow! I wasn’t expecting that at all. Him talking about Russian roulette, I thought it was in a figurative way. I gotta admit, I never was a Ricky Johnson fan. I didn’t liked the guy, but this really touched me. I go to learn more about him and suddenly he just got right up there in my esteem. I’m glad to hear that you did the right thing Ricky. Now you’re much more than a champion to me. You’re a true human being. Respect. ✨🙏✨

Wow. That was heavy. Content that the world needs to hear. Not just for us moto heads. But man RJ, you were such a hero of mine and I had no idea the pain you went thru. So glad you made it thru the darkness and to the other side. Bless your Mom. Light and love. ❤

RJ was my hero also growing up in the 80's. childhood dream came true when he came to Yuma, my home town, and went riding with me out at one of the local riding areas. This was right after his wrist injury when he was training for the 500cc outdoor nationals. 40min motos in 110 deg heat and would ice his wrist between motos. I remember the day so clearly!

Ricky was and still is my hero!

I wasn’t expecting this to go where it went. Man, I started crying when he was talking about all of that. I remember looking up to RJ when I was probably around 10 years old. Now at 45, having dealt with the dark times as well, I can say I really look up to him again for talking about this and sharing it with us. Thank you 🙏

Jesus I was expecting 20 minutes of motocross/supercross stories, god bless him, what a fantastic human being in every way 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🍀👍🙏🇺🇸have a good one down at Foxhills vmxdn RJ

Thank you, Rick. I am amazed, touched, and stronger than I was 20minutes ago... Thank you to the moon buddy

Now forever my favorite motorcycle and life champion of all time.

I got into riding dirt bikes at 41 never looked back best thing for my mental health ever. 🏁🏁

Omg I had no idea. 😢 YOUR still the CHAMPION of your day🏁💖🏁🌹🤳🏋‍♂️🇺🇲🏋‍♂️🕊☝️💯😎🏁 Thanks for sharing,,, I haven't been the same since I lost my career job but I have "NO FEAR" ,,, our SAVIOUR lives in here ❤🏝🌎🤲

Wow. Too Hip was lucky enough to live life at the top. Always loved his style and appreciated what he brought to the sport. It's hard to imagine that people that had this much success would have those lows. My God continue to bless RJ.

I think listening to this saved what life I have,and it aint much.Thanks brother.

I've known of RJ for many years because I'm a mx spectator and dirt bike Rider. But I didn't realize someone so successful in life can be so vulnerable. I've suffered with mental health problems for fourty years. I didn't know it can affect people that have everything. God bless you RJ. We are not alone brother. Keep plowing forward. Even today all these years people still think about you and your motocross skills. From a person with your affliction that's similar. Things always get better. Take care of yourself RJ.you have people that love you and admire your life. 👍

Wow, this was great! Thank you for such a great interview.

That was a good video and a powerful story. RJ got people's attention in 1982, and then from 1986 - 1989 he was The Man. I never heard this story until this video, so it's right it came from RJ, himself.

I don’t know how this came to me today but I needed it

@peterbalac1915

Жыл бұрын

4am and it just came to me, fascinating insight something I had never even thought of. Ricky's mom was a VERY special woman without doubt his saviour, what a great guy and legend in motocross. Good luck on yr journey buddy respect ✊🤙🇬🇧

Truly inspirational RJ. As a 16 year old racing motocross in 1982 onwards here in Australia, my hero's at that time were you RJ, Bob Hannah and Broc Glover. Rick Johnson was my all time favourite and it showed in my riding style. I have pictures of myself where my arse was hanging off the back of the seat in "killer mode" that resemble some pics you showed of yourself in this video. Bell Moto 3 helmet and all. You're still my hero RJ, and I'm now (cough) 56 years old, and after hearing your heart felt story in this video, I can say I know exactly how you felt and all I want to do is give you a hug. Thanks for all you gave to the sport, for inspiring young wannabe world champs like I was way back then, and for being an all round great guy. All the best from Australia.

I have been a huge follower of Super and Motocross since about 1984, and have seen most of the great riders. The mid 80's to the mid 90's was my favorite time to watch the sport. Ricky Johnson is in the top 5 list of almost every stat there is the sport, he 61 Mx+Sx combined wins and 7 championships, and would have had at least 2 more the year he got hurt as he had never ridden better. To me, Rick is the first modern Supercross racer, as he was the first I ever saw consistently skim the whoops when most everyone had a form of hopping or jumping through them. He would also "scrub" not like Bubba, but I remember him always talking about getting as little air as possible.over jumps and staying low. If I remember right, he turned pro at 13 but had to wait to 16 before he could go big leagues. But, he still raced the big guys in the off season races like the Florida and golden state series and did well against the top factory guys when he was 13. I think he's just one of the top 2-3all time all around greats.

I am in my 50s now and remember Rick Johnson was a bad ass dude on a dirt bike. He is truely one of the greatest of the greats. It is also hard not to like him as a person. He is still a tiny bit brash but in a way that is likeable ! He is one of those guys that when you listen to him,..You think,..It's not surprising that this guy was such a winner.

Rick, you helped shape me as a rider and as a young man growing up. I’m a couple years younger than you but in the mid to late 80’s you were the man and as far as I’m concerned, you still are. I disagree with you about people only loving you while you’re winning and I look forward to your commentary on tv every time you call races or events. Thanks for your honesty.

@DS-oi4wl

Жыл бұрын

He is my favorite race commentator.

Wow, I never knew this. What a powerful story.

Thank you RJ for everything you have accomplished.

What a dude! Thanks for sharing, RJ. So glad you are still here, a legend among us. Much love, brother. Always a hero of mine.

500 two strokes and my Hero...Ricky was awesome! The races when Ward kept a close 2nd was so fun to watch. Never missed Motoworld and tried like heck to keep my feet on the pegs and wheels on the ground!

To this day you are still my favorite rider, you are a legend

truly a legend of the sport, but more important a great person

Still remember Ricky Johnson.He was one of My Favorite Riders back in the 80's.I knew that that one wreck kinda ended His Career.Hanah was never the same after He broke His leg water skiing.Always liked Ricky's attitude.

Love you Ricky then, now,and always, can't believe what you went through what you went through 💔 my hero!!!

Powerful - a great insight

You are an amazing human! I know you will never know the amount of people that admire you throughout your career. I m one of them. God bless and thank you for setting such a great example for all of us wanna be pro racers.

I have so many magazines like cycle news, American Motorcross and Motocross Action in storage.the main reason I kept them is because the excitement those brought every time i opened my parents mailbox to get to see RJ,along from the 70s '80s and early 90s signed posters by RJ from the races that we got to go to. We live east coast always have now that being said RJ was a huge influence to me and my younger brother winning or not so just remember we're not the only ones in this cruel world that you had a absolute positive lifetime influence on. God bless you man!

Clint Hardick is a dear friend of mine, and I remember you and others well from those days, Rick (though we never met). Thank you so much for sharing your story. As part of my work, I do suicide intervention training for various organizations, and I appreciate so much how you describe what you went through, and what kept you from following through. Your story strikes me as deeply honest. And that's what we need to be when it comes to sharing our mental health stories. Thank you so much.

Thanks for sharing this RJ. you will help many because of your willingness to talk about it.

@craighills2382

Жыл бұрын

You had and have touched many lives over the years. You set standards and still today Love you RJ, happy you are here , I see you with David Pingree he knows who you are its why I gravitated towards him he is a good Soul also

Good story. Love to have you as a speaker

Thanks for publishing this and thanks to RJ for participating. I was lucky enough to attend a training class coached by him when I was young and racing still. It was an awesome experience, but this puts him in a new perspective as a human being with the same troubles everyone else goes through also.

Honesty and vulnerability are powerful motivators. Thanks, RJ. Now you're a hero for the right reasons. God bless.

This was life saving to hear. You will always be known as a legend. ❤️

Truly inspirational. Outstanding rider Outstanding racer Outstanding champion Outstanding human being Doesn't get much more inspirational than that as I am going through difficult and dark times I'm going to "get up and watch the sun rise" as you did as one of my moto heroes. I hope others find this and use it as inspiration to find the strength to succeed like you did. Class act. Respect. Gonna find an old "bad boy club" sticker to use as a reminder of your successful life journey and how I too can work for a successful life journey like you did. Ride on! 😎

What a great guy ,good morals Ricky 🙏👍

Wow not what I thought it was going to be! Great interview. I'm glad you are still here. My childhood hero!

Very good words RJ always has been my favorite role model.

WOW! My childhood hero. Thanks for sharing

RJ is my favorite rider of all time… this interview is awesome.

@jessebryant9233

2 жыл бұрын

That era in sports... Rick Johnson, Micheal Jordan, Mike Tyson... RJ is still the coolest (Bradshaw to me was the heir apparent) with the Mad Dog, Life's A Beach, the classic Fox gear and some sweet JT stuff... It was such a bummer when he got hurt. It seemed like he was just getting started. Lost too many too soon during that period. What happened to Shaun Kalos? Lechien had his moment and his demons... Bailey got hurt and Bayle jumped ship to MotoGP. Think of the battles that Bayle and McGrath may have had! I actually did an interview with Rick at Steel City and he shared a lot of what he shares here. At the time, he seemed like he just wanted to tell somebody. Wow, that was like... 20-years ago at least. Emailing him for approval of the written transcript was not successful and without his okay, I didn't feel right submitting it anywhere. I sort of feared meeting him. Was afraid I would be disappointed because as a kid, I always looked up to him as well. In no small part because of his profession of faith. Not sure how real that was, but too often "Christian" athletes have had a reputation for being soft, and RJ was like King David's mighty men of valor. And so many great athletes have had suicidal thoughts at the height of their careers or at some point. Deon Sanders and 'Pistol' Pete Maravich are two that come to mind. I think we can overlook that fact, that so many who have been so successful, struggle in this area. Gotta be a reason for that-and I think it is that in the end, pleasure and success are not enough-and success comes with pressure... Sorry, thinking out loud a bit there...

Thank you very much Rick for all the good you did to my life! We never met. You are the guy who motivated me those days! Of course I had the Alpinestars Tech4 RJ Bad Boy, still own the black hoody Bad Boy Club, raced the BELL moto5 and raced a few Honda CR's. I remember well when I heared about the bad injury and was very unlucky to hear the end of the motocross career. And again, you motivate me hear to go ahead in bad times these days! I never found something other than racing dirt bikes and struggle with it... still. I tried so many things and couldn't find something. Nothing means so much to me in kinds of sports and having/ownings things. Wish you all the best!

Jesus that was heavy.I had no idea.Thanks for sharing this Rick,I say that from the bottom of my heart

Damn, that was tough to watch. Who would have thought that one of the gnarliest racers f all time would be in such a bad place. When he mentioned his friend Dave Martin from NY, I remembered being friends with Dave. We would ride and race together. Dave would tell me he was friends with Ricky and I never believed him until I saw Dave walking away from the podium with Ricky and carrying Ricky's trophy from the Binghamton National. By the way Dave, if you ever read this comment, you still owe me dinner for that Clifford race where I beat you nearly 40 years ago. LOL

He lead on the track and he leads off the track. Very inspirational and philosophical. Good thing you're still around, you'll help a ton of people with your insight and intellect. "I'm not use to downshifting." I'm sure so many top athletes feel the same way.

Ricky I jumped in front of your Baja Race truck swinging a lawn chair in 2006. You went through the brush and missed the motorcycle rider who had fallen in deep silt ruts ! I think we saved his life. (But you probably never saw the rider in the dust !) The spot was at the end if a long off road section , coming up to tge hwy . Thank you for your quick reactions !

Thank you for this. Opened my eyes to a lot of things that I never even thought of.

Thank you for this, RJ and R2R. Amazing story.

Thanks Rick , I love racing didn't do it when I was in my prime .. now at 62 I've been racing Mx as an amateur with othg... it's the most beautiful sport I've ever been involved in .

Thanks for sharing sir. You are the man.

Wow that really hit home. Thank you so much for sharing RJ

I never knew. Admirable that you can share. Thanks RJ

Wow, RJ.......just WOW. ❤

That was message from God! I'm very thankful that you received it. It wouldn't have been just your mother but, thousands of fans would have lost a hero that day.

There’s still no one to this day I liked watching race more than you. You were always and still are a lifelong hero of mine. I am sure it took a lot to share those dark days, I never knew anything like that had occurred and glad you found that ending your life was certainly not the best option and you are beyond right that the only people that get hurt when you take your own life are the people you leave behind. I had a similar experience in some dark times and thankfully also realized somehow that the only people that would suffer with me doing that was everyone I’d be leaving behind which also has kept me away from anything like that since. I’ve seen a ton of videos of you both racing and interviews etc and this was definitely a new one and a great one and glad o caught it. Still one of if not my biggest hero RJ!

Wow !! what a man. He was my all time favorite rider, I loved watching him at Anaheim Stadium. I wish you my very best Rick.

Awesome video. As Mx racers we can all relate to the injuries and the depression that comes with it. Rick is so right about about how no one ever talks about the dark side of mx and this is a great opener to help the ones suffering. Rump has a good video about the dark side of mx too.

Thank you RJ. That was so powerful. You are a legend on and off the bike. Legends struggle too! Thank you for the perspective! God bless!

What a great, powerful message. I’ve been following motocross on and off for 30+ years, and I’ve often wondered how you were doing. You are a legend. And for those watching this video, I would say the last minute and a half is the most important part of the video. To Summarize, you can have everything you ever wanted, and one piece just isn’t right - and don’t focus on that, move past it. Find strength from others, and know that mental health is real. I deal with it on a regular basis with my son, and it’s hard. But always stay positive and know that the world is a better place when we are in it. Thanks for sharing RJ. God bless.

You’re a great dude RJ! Thank you!

Rick, I'm only at 3:41 and my heart is aching.... Always respected you so much, but hearing this stuff is so moving. I thought you were a god on a motorcycle as a kid. But you are more human than most of us, it seems. Massive respect before, 10X now. You influenced so many people in such positive ways. Thank you, RJ!!

Good stuff. Amazing how you can have no idea what someone is going through. Thanks for opening up R.J.

Wow Rick thankyou !!!!!

GOD BLESS YOU, RJ. Thanks for sharing.

Geez, the common denominator in this scenario is $$. The more your given, the more that’s expected from you. All the time. It takes the true fun out of the thing that brought you joy once. I hear a lot of top riders and or sports figures going thru very similar things. The business side of these sports has got to be an absolute pressure cooker. I’m glad you came out of this thing the way you did. And Props to your mom. There’s a reason you went to her when it was gonna hit the fan. Anyway, I’m a two stroke guy forever. Loved that era. Nothing can compare. Miss it dearly. And last but not least, I’ve been telling myself this when I need some strength: if God brought you to it, He’ll bring you thru it. Roll on my friend.

Thank you RJ! You’re a Life Champion! The beauty you’ve brought to the world is incalculable! Rock on!

Man that's deep , I remember you as a kid. Rick your a GUN back then and still are . Keep going buddy ! .🙂👍

@loyalhonorrespect...mywayo3558

Жыл бұрын

Lhr

Great dirt bike rider and awesome human being

RJ - AMAZING! Behind the Bad Boy was a caring, loving, insecure human being, looking for meaning in life even after attaining what many of us consider a pinnacle of achievements. What is really important, what will transcend? Selflessness, unconditional loving, caring. They are the cornerstone of transcendent peace. Anything built upon anything else will not endure. Thanks for sharing RJ! You are a greater hero today after seeing this than ever before!!!

My favorite rider met RJ got his autograph at southwick mass where he dominated! He’s also a great man of faith! Also Jeff Stanton got my photo in Dirt Rider magazine with him at southwick

Ricky was my fav from back in the day. Hands down. He had such a drive.

That was awesome rj still my favorite rider of all time good on you for pushing through the hard times

Thanks for Sharing.

That was moving. Thank you RJ.

So so touching ❤️

RICK U ARE AWESOME.

Thanks for sharing very powerful.

if you really think about it.. Rick Johnson is one of the VERY few racers that can at a given time easily claim to be the ABSOLUTE BEST racer in the world.....there are only a handfull

Mad respect.

God Bless you RJ.

The sport as we know it would not exist without RJ. Since I began following him in the early 80s, I'm still learning about his incredible life. The dude is straight up honest and one of the greatest riders this sport has ever seen.

Spot on Ricky 😊😊

RJ you truly are the GOAT imo and this wonderful interview proves this yet again sir. I too have watched and listened to you for years now and truly believe God has been using you for years. Thanks for sharing your heart brother. This is going to help many. And thanks also for sharing your time and amazing talents with our Veterans! God Bless

@craighills2382

Жыл бұрын

Greatest of All Time

you are both a champion MX'er and a human success also, well done RJ!

Was my biggest idol growing up racing. Was lucky got to go to one of his schools at broom tioga.

So powerful- class act!

I was a local racer in the 80's, so of course I really admired RJ in those days. I guess even more so now...

They are the best

So good very moving

This could be his biggest achievement, thought provoking.

Thank you RJ