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PHOENIX -- The beauty of pingpong is that you only need one hand to play. Fortunately for Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson, he only had a cast on his left wrist for the past three months, leaving his right, dominant hand free to play as much table tennis as he could. "[I had] nothing else to do but play pingpong and hang out with my family, so that's all I've really been doing," Johnson told ESPN. But Johnson isn't an Average Joe novice. "I'm very much into pingpong," he said. Johnson can add up-and-coming pingpong enthusiast to this athletic résumé that already includes All-Pro NFL football player and former star dodgeball player. Johnson, 25, has two pingpong tables at home -- one in the garage and one outside -- and a pingpong machine that shoots balls across the table while it oscillates. It can also put spin on the balls, giving Johnson a range of looks as he practices. "I think̉ I'm pretty good," he said. "I think I have to get more advanced."  Johnson's growing passion for pingpong led him to hold a tournament at the Bob & Renee Parson Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Phoenix on Wednesday afternoon. The reward for winning the 32-player tournament was to face Johnson -- who lost the title match. In all, about 75 kids were in attendance when Johnson presented the club with a $5,000 donation.
Throughout the afternoon, Johnson walked from table to table, checking in on the younger competition. He warmed up with children and adults alike. And talking a little smack wasn't above Johnson, who tried to get into the heads of his future opponents. But it didn't work -- the intimidation, the fame, the months of constant practice, none of it. What pingpong has done for Johnson is scratch his competitive itch while he's missed months of football since suffering his injury on Sept. 10. "It's very competitive," he said. "A lot of technique goes into it. It's exciting. It's a new way for me to stay active." Johnson began getting serious with pingpong as a rookie in 2015. His agent, Jonathan Perzley, who played tennis in high school, got Johnson playing table tennis at the rookie symposium that year, Johnson recalled. And Johnson's been hooked ever since. Johnson has gotten his wife Meghan into pingpong as well. "She's gotten real good," he said. "Me and her have some good competition." Johnson admitted he's grooming himself to be the best pingpong athlete in Arizona. But he won't take that title easily if Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker has anything to do with it. "I'm going to have to challenge him," Johnson said.
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