His hands caught the Ivy League title last year, defeating Harvard in a crushing loss that will be remembered for a long time in the annals of Harvard-Yale football history.

With the Crimson leading 21-17 and just 29 seconds left on the clock, Yale wideout Eric Johnson "caught" a Joe Walland '00 pass in the end zone to give Yale a 24-21 victory and a share of the Ivy League title.

The pass was as controversial as it was dramatic. Yale fans will tell you that Johnson grabbed the ball an inch before it touched the turf. Harvard followers will claim the ball hit the ground first and Johnson trapped it. Photographic evidence proved, as all evidence invariably does, that Harvard fans were just a little smarter than their Eli counterparts.

Johnson trapped it and Yale shouldn't have won.

"'The Catch' will live in the lore of Yale football, a place Eric Johnson has more than earned in his four years here," said Yale Coach Jack Siedlecki.

The Catch sent Harvard to defeat in The Game, and gave Yale a piece of the title.

"The significance of the catch is hard to put into words," Siedlecki said. "We had a great year, but the win against Harvard made it one of the greatest years in the history of Yale football."

Johnson's performance in The Game last year proved his worth in pressure situations. Lost in the shuffle of The Catch and the controversy it generated, however, is Johnson's remarkable performance in the rest of The Game.

Specifically, his 20 other receptions that totaled 240 yards seem to be an afterthought for most fans. But all those receptions and yards didn't kill the Crimson and send Harvard to defeat. It was Johnson's 21st catch that sent the Crimson home from New Haven humbled.

"I have said many times since then that the significance of all the records set that day is magnified by the closeness and importance of the game," Siedlecki said. "Winning an Ivy League championship meant that Yale football had come all the way back from the depths of two consecutive last place finishes."

Growing up in the Greater Boston area, Johnson knew of the intense Harvard-Yale rivalry before he arrived in New Haven.

"It's a great rivalry," Johnson said. "It's the oldest tradition. It's a fun game, but with the pressure of a playoff."

With this year's installment of The Game in Cambridge, Johnson is looking forward to playing in front of his friends and family.

"It's really good, being from Massachusetts and playing in the Harvard-Yale game," Johnson said. "I have 75 people coming to see me play."

With Needham, Mass., where Johnson went to high school, just a short-hop from Cambridge, one might wonder why Johnson ended up at Yale instead of Harvard. Surprisingly, Johnson always preferred Yale to Harvard.