(CNN) -- This story is about how to know when to give up on a man, and when to stick with him.





It's about Chris Johnson.





I didn't know who Johnson was before this NFL season began. I haven't closely followed football since Joe Namath led my home team, the New York Jets, to victory in Super Bowl III, 42 Super Bowls ago.





Now that I've been sucked into a fantasy football league by my extended family, I know Chris Johnson. He was a top draft choice for my team. The computer picked him. In fact, all ESPN fantasy football leagues chose Chris Johnson in their drafts this year.





That's how good he was. He didn't even show up for the pre-season until his team, the Tennessee Titans, agreed to sign a contract worth more than $50 million.





Johnson was a fantasy football owner's fantasy man.





The hero falls down a hole





Week 1: Johnson's first game of the year is a bust -- 24 yards on nine carries. My son, who's in elementary school, is an unusually good strategic thinker for his age. "Let's trade him," he says.





"We can't trade Chris Johnson," I tell him. I want to teach my son the value of patience. You don't give up on a human being after one bad performance.





A friend who follows the NFL reinforces the patience theme.





"You can't trade Johnson," he says. "He's explosive. He was off his stride the first game because he missed the pre-season holding out for that big contract."





Week 2: Another bomb. Fifty-three yards on 24 carries. I know this about football. It takes 10 yards to get a first down. Johnson is averaging less than three yards a carry. Could it be -- I'd need to punt Johnson?





More pleas from my son to trade. I can see the writing on the wall: One bad week as a father -- "Mom, trade Dad."





Week 3: Johnson's worst game yet. I start reading the fantasy football sports columnists. These are real sports columnists who write about fantasy teams comprised of real players arranged in fantasy lineups chosen by real people.





Some are losing faith in Johnson, but hope still prevails. "Wait and see" is their collective advice.





Week 4: Finally, a 100-yard game. Not a blockbuster. But a glimmer of hope.





Week 5: The glimmer disappears. I come across an ESPN.com photo showing Johnson's offensive line wasn't creating big holes for him. At the same time, there are less-obvious holes Johnson isn't seeing -- champions have to create their own opportunities.





My son's voice -- "Trade him, dad, trade him!" -- rings in my ears.





The hero, hopeless





I come across a Sports Illustrated cover story from last year with Johnson's photo: "Crash course: Hard hits and short careers," in which SI's Tim Layden writes that, at 24, Johnson is at the height of his powers.





"Johnson rushes with a palpable urgency befitting a man who runs a 4.24 in the 40, a speed all but unheard of in a running back. And he's urgent away from the field as well. Despite having three years remaining on the rookie contract he signed out of East Carolina in July 2008, he had his deal restructured just before the start of training camp, reportedly quadrupling in his salary for 2010. Because Johnson knows he is also this: endangered."





Endangered? My first draft pick -- endangered. Why? Why, according to the NFL Players Association, is the average running back's career 2.6 years?





"We get hit on every play," then-Redskins' running back Larry Johnson tells SI. "On every one of those hits, we're the hittee, not the hitter. We run the ball, guys are taking shots at our legs,
who does he play for? Who is the Titans' running back? Who was top fantasy football pick? What did Schulder say? who was a top fantasy pick?
Tennessee Titans, Chris Johnson. Chris Johnson. I didn't know who Johnson was before this NFL season began. I haven't closely followed football since Joe Namath led my home team, the New York Jets, to victory in Super Bowl III, 42 Super Bowls ago. Chris Johnson.
question: who does he play for?, answer: Tennessee Titans, | question: Who is the Titans' running back?, answer: Chris Johnson. | question: Who was top fantasy football pick?, answer: Chris Johnson. | question: What did Schulder say?, answer: I didn't know who Johnson was before this NFL season began. I haven't closely followed football since Joe Namath led my home team, the New York Jets, to victory in Super Bowl III, 42 Super Bowls ago. | question: who was a top fantasy pick?, answer: Chris Johnson.