Charles Edward Johnson (born May 2, 1984) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison gu ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Oklahoma State Cowboys The Oklahoma State Cowboys and Cowgirls are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Oklahoma State University, located in Stillwater. The program's mascot is a cowboy named Pistol Pete. Oklahoma State participates at the National ...

, and was selected by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

in the sixth round of the

2006 NFL draft The 2006 NFL draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with additional coverage offe ...

. He won

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2006 Indianapolis Colts season, Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2006 Chicago Bears season, Chicag ...

with the Colts against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They are one of two remaining ...

Early life

Johnson attended Sherman High School in

Sherman, Texas Sherman is a city in and the county seat of Grayson County, Texas, United States. The city's population in 2020 was 43,645. It is one of the two principal cities in the Sherman–Denison metropolitan area, Sherman–Denison metropolitan statist ...

, the same high school former Colts' punter Hunter Smith attended. At

Oklahoma State Oklahoma State University (informally Oklahoma State or OSU) is a public land-grant research university in Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States. The university was established in 1890 under the legislation of the Morrill Act. Originally known ...

, he was converted from a

tight end The tight end (TE) is an offense (sports), offensive position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football. It is a hybrid that combines the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a receiver (football), receiv ...

to an offensive tackle.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Johnson was selected with the Indianapolis Colts' sixth-round pick in the

. As a rookie, he started one game, filling in for the injured right tackle

Ryan Diem Ryan Edwin Diem (born July 1, 1979) is an American former professional football player who spent his entire 11-year career as an offensive lineman for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for ...

against Tennessee in week 13, and, additionally, filled in for Diem for a portion of

. Due to the retirement of stalwart left tackle Tarik Glenn, Johnson had an opportunity to win the starting left tackle job during his second season, but was beaten out by rookie

Tony Ugoh Anthony Ike Ugoh, Jr. (born November 17, 1983) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle, who played in the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for Arkansas, he was selected by the I ...

. Injuries to Ugoh and Diem, however, led to Johnson starting 10 of 16 games at LT and RT, respectively. Johnson's performance during 2007 was widely viewed by fans as a disappointment (that season marked the first time in five years that the Colts finished out of the top 5 in least sacks allowed), considering the competence he had shown as a rookie. In Johnson's third season, he was moved to left guard in order to compensate for the loss of injured starter

Ryan Lilja Ryan Matthew Lilja (born October 15, 1981) is an American former professional football player who was a center and guard in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats, and signed with the Kansas ...

. Johnson started all 16 games, 12 at LG and 4 at LT, and was one of only two starting OL (the other being Ryan Diem) to play in every game that season. The following year, Johnson beat out underachieving starter Tony Ugoh for the starting LT position during training camp. Through six games, Johnson had demonstrated solid improvement in his position, in contrast to previous years' performances.

Minnesota Vikings

On August 1, 2011, Johnson signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

. He played left tackle in his first full season with the Vikings but was then moved to left guard after the team drafted tackle

Matt Kalil Matthew Francis Kalil (born July 6, 1989) is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans and was selected by the Minnesota Vik ...

from

USC USC may refer to: Education United States * Universidad del Sagrado Corazón, Santurce, Puerto Rico * University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina ** University of South Carolina System, a state university system of South Carolina * ...

. On February 27, 2015, Johnson was released by the Vikings.

Personal life

On December 18, 2012, Johnson appeared on an episode of ''

Ink Master ''Ink Master'' is an American reality competition television series that premiered on Paramount Network (formerly called Spike) on January 17, 2012. Each season features tattoo artists who compete in various challenges assessing their tattooing ...

'', where he received a tattoo of a dragon on his right forearm by contestant Tatu Baby. Since 2017, he has been the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for Stillwater High School in

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater is the tenth-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, and the county seat of Payne County, Oklahoma, Payne County. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177#Oklahoma, U.S. Route 177 and Oklahoma S ...

References

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Charlie 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Durant, Oklahoma Players of American football from Sherman, Texas American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Sherman High School (Texas) alumni Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Indianapolis Colts players Minnesota Vikings players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen