KeeSean Johnson (born October 9, 1996) is an American 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 ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in 19 ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). 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 ...

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

and is the program's all-time leader in receiving yards and receptions. Johnson was drafted by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in the sixth round of the

2019 NFL draft The 2019 NFL draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville. The first round was held ...

Early life

Johnson attended and played football at

Palo Alto High School Palo Alto Senior High School (commonly referred to locally as "Paly") is a comprehensive public high school in Palo Alto, California. Operated by the Palo Alto Unified School District, the school is one of two high schools in the district, the ...

, in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. Johnson played for the same high school as

Davante Adams Davante Lavell Adams (born December 24, 1992) is an American professional American football, football wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He played two seasons of college football for the Fresno State Bu ...

, before they both played for

Fresno State University California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

College career

Johnson

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

during his 2014 freshman season and only played one game at

. In 2015, Johnson started some games. In 2016, as a sophomore, Johnson led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving

touchdowns A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

. During the 2017 season as a junior, Johnson led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns for the second-straight season. He caught at least one pass in all 14 games, extending his streak to a program record 36 consecutive games with a catch dating back to 2015, breaking

Henry Ellard Henry Austin Ellard (born July 21, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams (1983–1993), Washington Redskins (1994–1998), and New England Patriots (1998) of the National Footb ...

's record of 34, set from 1979–82. Johnson was named a 2017 All-

Mountain West Conference The Mountain West Conference (MW) is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States, participating in NCAA Division I. Its football teams compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). The MW officially began operations on Ja ...

Second-Team selection. In 2018, as a senior, Johnson led the team in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdowns for the third straight season and became the program's all-time leader in both career receptions, with 275 receptions, and career receiving yards, with 3,463 yards. For the season, Johnson was fourth in the FBS in receiving yards and fifth in receptions; among active players' careers, he ranked second and first, respectively. Johnson also extended his streak of consecutive games with a pass caught to 50. He was named an All-Mountain West Second-Team selection.

Statistics

Source:

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Johnson was drafted by the

in the sixth round (174th overall) of the

. He made his NFL debut in the Cardinals' 2019 season opener against the

Detroit Lions The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit. The Lions compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. The team plays their home game ...

. In the 27–27 tie, he had five receptions for 46 yards on ten targets. Johnson scored his first NFL touchdown on October 31, 2019, against

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

. On September 11, 2020, Johnson was placed on the reserve/

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

list, and activated 10 days later. On August 30, 2021, Johnson was waived by the Cardinals.

Philadelphia Eagles

On September 2, 2021, Johnson was signed to the

practice squad In gridiron football, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. They serve as extra players during the team's practices, often as part of the scou ...

of the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. He was placed on the COVID list on January 1, 2022, and activated four days later.

San Francisco 49ers

On January 26, 2022, Johnson signed a reserve/future contract with the 49ers. He was waived on August 15, 2022.

Atlanta Falcons

On August 17, 2022, Johnson signed with the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

. He was waived on August 30.

Buffalo Bills

On October 11, 2022, Johnson was signed to the practice squad of the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

. He signed a reserve/future contract on January 23, 2023. He was waived on August 29, 2023.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

On February 29, 2024, Johnson signed with the

of the

Personal life

Johnson has confirmed that he was not named after former NFL receiver

Keyshawn Johnson Joseph Keyshawn Johnson (born July 22, 1972) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 11 seasons. He played college football for the USC Trojans, and earned All-American ho ...

, though KeeSean has met Keyshawn before. Coincidentally, both KeeSean and Keyshawn have worn jersey number 19 in the NFL.

References

External links

Saskatchewan Roughriders bioFresno State Bulldogs bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, KeeSean 1996 births Living people American football wide receivers Arizona Cardinals players Atlanta Falcons players Buffalo Bills players Fresno State Bulldogs football players Palo Alto High School alumni Players of American football from Palo Alto, California Philadelphia Eagles players San Francisco 49ers players Saskatchewan Roughriders players Canadian football wide receivers Players of Canadian football from California