Michael David Johnson (born February 7, 1987) 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 ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was selected by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team plays its h ...

in the third round of the 2009 NFL draft and also played for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

. 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 ...

Georgia Tech The Georgia Institute of Technology (commonly referred to as Georgia Tech, GT, and simply Tech or the Institute) is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Established in 1885, it has the lar ...

Early life

Johnson played

high school football High school football, also known as prep football, is gridiron football played by High school (North America), high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular high school sports, interscholastic sports in both c ...

at Dallas County High School in Plantersville, Alabama. Playing

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 ...

, Johnson was the team captain and MVP for coach Richard Bush. As a junior, he had 25 receptions for 300 yards and three touchdowns. He caught 42 passes for 650 yards and six

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 ...

as a senior while making 92

tackles Tackle may refer to: * In football: ** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football ** Tackle (gridiron football position) A tackle is a playing position in American football. Historically, in the one-platoon system prevalent ...

and 14 sacks on defense. Johnson was also an outstanding

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player, who averaged 16

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and 10 rebounds as a junior. Johnson Graduated valedictorian of his class.

College career

As a senior at Georgia Tech, Johnson, in 2008, ended the regular season with Recorded 46 tackles (28 solos) as he led the team and finished third in the conference with nine sacks and 17.5 stops for losses and two forced fumbles. He was voted as an AFCA coaches First-team

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 ...

with the likes of Brian Orakpo and Terrence Cody. He also garnered first-team All-ACC honors as well as numerous other accolades. In 2007, Johnson played in 13 games and started one. He had 21 tackle (11 solo) and six went for losses. He had four sacks and forced three fumbles and recovered one. He also blocked two kicks. The previous season, 2006, he played in and started all 12 games and had 34 tackles (25 solo) and six were for a loss. He recorded five sacks and forced three fumbles and broke up two passes. In 2005, as a true freshman, he played in 11 games and had 5 solo tackles and one assisted for a total of six tackles, one going for a loss. He also recorded one sack and forced one fumble. On May 2, 2015, after six seasons in the NFL, Johnson officially earned his degree from Georgia Tech.

Professional career

Cincinnati Bengals (first stint)

Johnson was not selected in the first round of the 2009 NFL draft where many analysts predicted he would go, instead falling into the third round and being picked 70th overall by the Bengals. During an interview, Johnson was mentioned by head coach Marvin Lewis as maybe being "one of the best pass rushers he has ever worked with." Before the 2010 season, the Bengals announced that Johnson would be moved to

outside linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and typically line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and so back up the defensive linemen. They play closer to the lin ...

. In 2012, Johnson accumulated 52 tackles, 35 solo, and 11.5 sacks. He also had one interception and one force fumble. The Bengals placed their non-exclusive franchise tag on Johnson on March 1, 2013.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Johnson signed a five-year, $43.98 million contract with the

on March 11, 2014. Johnson's debut season for the Buccaneers was marred with injuries consistently the entire year. In the 2014 season, he recorded 27 combined tackles, 4.0 quarterback sacks, and two forced fumbles. On March 11, 2015, exactly one year to the day he signed with the Buccaneers, Johnson was released. The move saved $2 million in cap space despite the loss of $7 million in guaranteed money that the team still had to pay.

Cincinnati Bengals (second stint)

On March 15, 2015, Johnson re-joined his former team, signing a four-year, $24 million contract with the Bengals. In Week 5 of the 2018 season, Johnson recorded a 22-yard pick-six in the 27–17 victory over the Miami Dolphins.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

References

External links

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Michael 1987 births Living people Sportspeople from Selma, Alabama Players of American football from Alabama American football defensive ends Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football players Cincinnati Bengals players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players