Montrell Johnson Jr. accepts invitation to All-Star game

Joining teammate and wide receiver, Elijhah Badger, Florida Gators running back Montrell Johnson Jr. recently accepted an invitation to the 2025 Hula Bowl.

The game will take place in Orlando on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the UCF FBC Mortgage Stadium. It features 120 of the Sunshine State’s top seniors and will draw scouts from the NFL, UFL and CFL.

Despite missing time as a senior in 2024, Johnson has rushed for 598 yards and six touchdowns off 100 carries, averaging 5.9 yards per attempt. He has also contributed with 13 catches for 64 yards. He has a 4-star On3 college ranking.

Johnson’s last two games, however, were arguably his best of the season, as he rushed for 107 yards and a touchdown against LSU and then 99 yards and another score vs. Florida State.

Those bounceback performances earned him nothing but praise from Florida head coach Billy Napier.

“He worked his tail off to get over the high ankle, the bone bruise. Missed a chunk of the season there in the middle. You could just see in this last week against Ole Miss, when he’s on, he’s a little different. His patience, his acceleration, his vision. And he showed some finishing speed tonight,” Napier said after Florida’s victory over Florida State.

“So, Montrell, 3,000 yards. I mean, how many backs in the country right now have 3,000 yards rushing? He’s taken full advantage, and he’s a class act off the field. He’s everything you would want in a player to be in terms of representing the program.”

Johnson, a native of New Orleans who started his career at Louisiana before transferring to Florida once Napier arrived, has career totals of 3,089 rushing yards and 33 touchdowns behind 5.3 yards per carry. He has 411 receiving yards along with two additional scores as well.

The background on the Hula Bowl

“The Hula Bowl was established in 1946 as the Hula Bowl All-Star Football Classic game. When the inaugural game was played on January 5, 1947, the teams were composed of mainland college players versus a local Hawaiian Islands team; primarily made up of graduates of Leilehua High School in Wahiawa, Hawaii. The teams played a two-game series every January until 1951. It was then, that the format was changed to allow NFL Players to join the Hawaiian All-Stars in an effort to create a more competitive game,” the Hula Bowl site reads.

“Starting in 1960, the Hula Bowl game was established as an All-Star game that would only invite NCAA college players from schools across the US. The teams were divided into two teams, one team from those colleges located in the Eastern and Western United States. The teams were then split into “Aina and Kai ” teams, the Hawaiian words for Land and Water.

“Throughout its tenure, the game was historically played at the Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 1998, the mayor of Maui County requested that the Organizers of the Hula have the game moved to the Island of Maui. Beginning that year, the game was held at the War Memorial Stadium in the town of Kahului.

“In 2006, the Hula Bowl was returned back to its historic home on the beautiful island of Oahu. The game remained on Oahu until the 2008 game.

“There has been overwhelming support to bring the game to Florida at the UCF FBC Mortgage Stadium in 2022. The community has extended a gracious and warm welcome as the organizers have been planning the games return again in January 2025.

“Following this strongly supported return, the game will be featured in January each year in Florida. This year, the game will include NCAA college football players from all divisions, along with international players from Japan. In addition, the game will always include Polynesian players with historic ties to the Islands.”

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