Derrick Johnson

Derrick O'Hara Johnson (born November 22, 1982) is a former American football linebacker.

He played college football at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned consensus All-American honors twice.

He earned Parade magazine high school All-America and first-team All-Texas Class 5A honors following both his junior and senior seasons, and played in the first-ever U.S. Army All-American Bowl on December 30, 2000.

As a standout track & field athlete, Johnson was a state-qualifier in the 100-meters and the triple jump.

He recorded a 10.5-second 100-meter dash, while also clearing over 48 ft (14.66 m) in the triple jump.

At the District 13-5A Championships, he ran a leg on the Waco 4 × 100 m relay squad, helping them earn a fourth-place finish.

Johnson enrolled in The University of Texas at Austin, and played for coach Mack Brown's Texas Longhorns football team from 2001 to 2004 and became one of the most dominant linebackers in Longhorns history.

Johnson was a first-team All-Big 12 selection in 2002, 2003 and 2004, a consensus first-team All-American in 2003, and unanimous first-team All-American in 2004.

Following his senior season, he was also recognized as the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, and received the Dick Butkus Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 15th overall selection in first round the 2005 NFL Draft.

In his 13 seasons with the Chiefs, he made four Pro Bowls.

He also played 6 games for the Oakland Raiders.

Johnson was born in Waco, Texas.

He attended Waco High School, where he was a three-sport star in football, track and basketball.

In football, he played as a linebacker, registering 170 tackles (103 unassisted), 21.0 stops for loss, 6.0 quarterback sacks, five forced fumbles and two interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown as a senior.

Johnson produced a career-high 30 tackles and four forced fumbles in a single game.

The Texas Longhorns finished 11–1, and defeated the Michigan Wolverines 38–37 in the 2005 Rose Bowl.

Johnson entered the 2005 NFL Draft as a highly touted prospect and attended the NFL Scouting Combine and completed all of the combine drills.

On March 23, 2005, he attended Texas' pro day, but opted to stand on his combine numbers and only performed positional drills.

He was projected to be a first round pick by NFL draft experts and scouts.

He was ranked as the top outside linebacker prospect in the draft by DraftScout.com and DraftCountdown.com.

The Kansas City Chiefs selected Johnson in the first round (15th overall) of the 2005 NFL Draft.

Johnson was the fourth linebacker drafted in 2005.

On July 31, 2005, the Kansas City Chiefs signed Johnson to a five-year $10.40 million contract that includes $7.03 million guaranteed.

He entered training camp slated as a starting outside linebacker.

Head coach Dick Vermeil officially named him the left outside linebacker to start the regular season, along with Kendrell Bell and middle linebacker Kawika Mitchell.

He made his professional regular season debut and first career start in the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opener against the New York Jets and recorded nine combined tackles, forced a fumble, and made his first career sack on quarterback Chad Pennington in their 27–7 victory.

On October 2, 2005, Johnson collected a season-high ten solo tackles during a 37–31 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 4.

Johnson started all 16 games of his rookie campaign in 2005 and made 95 combined tackles (72 solo), five pass deflections, two forced fumbles, and two sacks.

He was subsequently awarded the Mack Lee Hill Award as their rookie of the year.

The Kansas City Chiefs finished second in the AFC West with a 10–6 record, but did not qualify for the playoffs.

On January 1, 2006, Kansas City Chiefs' head coach Dick Vermeil announced his retirement after five seasons with the team.

Head coach Herm Edwards chose to retain defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham and the base 4-3 defense.

He also retained starting linebackers Johnson, Bell, and Mitchell to begin the season.

On October 29, 2006, Johnson made five combined tackles and two sacks on quarterback Matt Hasselbeck in the Chiefs' 30–27 win against the Seattle Seahawks.

Johnson missed two consecutive games (Weeks 10–11) due to a sprained ankle.

He aggravated his injury and was also inactive for a Week 13 loss at the Cleveland Browns.

In Week 16, he collected a season-high nine solo tackles during a 20–9 win at the Oakland Raiders.

He finished the season with 75 combined tackles (56 solo), 4.5 sacks, and three passes defensed in 13 games and 13 starts.

Head coach Herman Edwards retained Johnson as the starting left outside linebacker to begin the regular season, alongside Donnie Edwards and starting middle linebacker Napoleon Harris.