LeShon Eugene Johnson (born January 15, 1971) 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

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

and

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

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) for six seasons during the 1990s. 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

Northern Illinois Huskies The Northern Illinois Huskies are the athletic teams that represent Northern Illinois University (NIU). The Huskies are a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I and the Mid-American Conference (M ...

, and earning consensus

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

honors in 1993. He was selected by the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

in the third round of the

1994 NFL draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Ma ...

. He also played professionally for 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 ...

and

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The ...

of the NFL and the Chicago Enforcers of the

XFL (2001) The XFL was a professional American football league that played its only season in 2001. The XFL was operated as a joint venture between the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) and NBC. The XFL was conceived as an outdoor football l ...

. He was arrested and pled guilty for dog fighting in 2004 and arrested again in 2025 in the largest

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

bust on a dog fighting ring.

Early life

Johnson was born in Haskell, Oklahoma.National Football League, Historical Players
LeShon Johnson
Retrieved February 9, 2012. He was a standout

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

running back at Haskell High School.databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved February 9, 2012. Johnson was a bull rider on the junior

rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

circuit, earning the nickname the "Cowboy," which followed him throughout his football career.

College career

Johnson attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College, before transferring to Northern Illinois University as a junior. At Northern Illinois, he played for the

Northern Illinois Huskies football The Northern Illinois Huskies football team are a college football program representing Northern Illinois University (NIU) in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. NIU football plays ...

team in 1992 and 1993. As a senior in 1993, Johnson was the leading college rusher with 1,976 yards on 327 carries for an average of 179.6 yards per game. Johnson finished sixth in the 1993

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy ( ; also known simply as the Heisman) is awarded annually since 1935 to the top player in college football. It is considered the most prestigious award in the sport and is presented by the Heisman Trophy Trust followin ...

voting race, with five first-place votes. He played only two years for the Huskies, but his total yards mark of 3,314 still places him fifth on the team's all-time rushing list.

Professional career

The Green Bay Packers selected Johnson in the third round (84th pick overall) of the

. He played for the Packers in and ). From to , he was a member of the

. In Johnson's career-best game, he rushed for 214 yards on 21 carries for the Cardinals versus the New Orleans Saints on September 22, 1996. His career was interrupted by

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...

cancer in 1998. He managed to make a comeback and subsequently started for the New York Giants in . His football career ended playing in the XFL for the Chicago Enforcers.

Criminal activity

In March 2025, the United States Department of Justice charged Johnson with possession of 190 pit bull dogs used for "animal fighting venture and for selling, transporting, and delivering a dog for use in an animal fighting venture." Authorities said this is believed to be the largest number of dogs taken from a single person in a federal dog-fighting case. If convicted, Johnson is facing a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and a $250,000 fine on each count. Court documents show that Johnson ran a dog fighting operation in Broken Arrow and Haskell known as "Mal Kant Kennels." In 2004, he pled guilty to animal fighting charges for operating the "Krazyside Kennels." In 2005, he pled guilty to the crime of dog fighting in Hughes County, Oklahoma and received a five-year deferred sentence.George Dohrmann, "," ''Sports Illustrated'' (May 29, 2007). Retrieved February 9, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Leshon 1971 births Living people American football running backs Arizona Cardinals players Chicago Enforcers players Green Bay Packers players New York Giants players Northeastern Oklahoma A&M Golden Norsemen football players Northern Illinois Huskies football players All-American college football players People from Haskell, Oklahoma Players of American football from Oklahoma 20th-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century American sportsmen 21st-century African-American sportsmen

Early life

College career

Professional career

Criminal activity

See also

References