mind, give me the ball and let me help us win the game."
Every game? Definitely not.
Johnson hasn't single-handedly won a bunch of games in his career. Sure, he helped the Bucs win Super Bowl XXXVII a couple of years ago. But it wasn't all him. Even Johnson himself knows that.
While the Cowboys have won nine games this year, hoping to make it 10 to at least have a shot at qualifying for the playoffs, Johnson hasn't won any of those games by himself.
But leave it to him to point out a major difference in the Cowboys' wins and losses this year.
"I don't know exactly what it is, but the games we've won, I've got about five or six touches each game," Johnson said. "When we lose, it's about two or three. Look it up."
Guess what? Yep, he's right again.
In the Cowboys' nine victories this season, Johnson has 49 catches, averaging 5.4 receptions in those games. In the six losses, he has just 17 receptions. That's an average of 2.83 catches a game.
Now there are two ways to look at this.
Did defenses simply decide take Keyshawn out of the game? Or did the Cowboys just not go to their "possession" receiver enough when the game was on the line?
Need we even ask how Johnson feels?
"I can't really do a lot with two or three balls a game," he said. "Like I said before, I can't be No. 3."
However, there is a twist to this whole thing. Johnson really doesn't want to be No. 3. He doesn't want to be the one-man show he basically was at Southern Cal.
Sure, he wouldn't mind being known as one of the NFL's best receivers, although ask him, and he's already in that category. It's just that Johnson doesn't need 100 catches a season. He doesn't really need to be atop the league in receptions.
"If I did that, what's TG (Terry Glenn) going to get?" Johnson asked. "What is (Jason Witten) going to get? It can't just be one guy. Look around the league. You tell me how many receivers are catching all these passes and winning. That's not the way it is."
Now he acknowledged a few exceptions, such as Cincinnati's Chad Johnson (93) and Indianapolis' duo of Reggie Wayne (83) and Marvin Harrison (80) in the AFC. And he knows all about Carolina's Steve Smith (94 catches) and Washington's Santana Moss (80), although you can bet he hopes one of those two is home for the playoffs.
But in Johnson's eyes, there are too many one-man shows around the league; too many fantasy-crazed fans getting caught up in stats, especially with receivers, and missing the point.
Johnson sees too many of the Larry Fitzgeralds and Anquan Boldins of Arizona, or even the Rams' Torry Holt and Green Bay's Donald Driver - players with more than 80 catches, but can't seem to do enough to help their teams win.
"You look around the league at these guys leading their team in catches," Johnson said. "OK, then look at the second guy. You might see a guy with 80 or 90 balls and the next guy has 20. That's no good. Especially when you get (into the playoffs)."
So Johnson should take some pride in knowing this is the first Cowboys team since 1995 to have three players with at least 60 catches. And that was running back Emmitt Smith (62) joining Michael Irvin (111) and tight end Jay Novacek (62) back then.
But it's been exactly 20 years since the Cowboys have accomplished that without a back in the equation. Back in 1985, receivers Tony Hill (74) and Mike Renfro (60) both had big receiving seasons, while tight end Doug Cosbie added 64 catches.
And that team just so happened to finish 10-6, which was good enough to win the NFC East and qualify for the playoffs.
Who knows if 10-6 will be good enough to qualify the Cowboys for the playoffs this year. And if indeed the Cowboys make it to the playoffs, no one will be happier than Johnson, who said extending the season always has been the team's top priorities.
"That's what it's about - making the playoffs," Johnson said. "And we've got a chance to do that. And that's really the only thing that matters to me. Awards and stuff don't mean anything to me anymore. It's all about winning."
And in his mind, the best way to do that hasn't
