Todd Edward Johnson (born December 18, 1978) 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

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

for seven seasons 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) during the 2000s. Johnson 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

Florida Gators The Florida Gators are the College sports in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Florida, located in Gainesville, Florida, Gainesville. The University of Florida, its athletic program, its alumni an ...

, and thereafter, he played in the NFL for 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 ...

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis, Missouri, from 1995 through the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, California, where the team had played ...

, and

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 ...

Early life

Johnson was born in

Sarasota, Florida Sarasota () is a city in and the county seat of Sarasota County, Florida, United States. It is located in Southwest Florida, the southern end of the Tampa Bay area, and north of Fort Myers, Florida, Fort Myers and Punta Gorda, Florida, Punta Gord ...

, in 1978. He attended Riverview High School in Sarasota,databaseFootball.com, Players, . Retrieved October 9, 2010. where he was a standout defensive back for the Riverview Rams high school football team.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2002 Roster
Todd Johnson
. Retrieved October 9, 2010. Johnson was an all-state selection and a ''SuperPrep''

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 ...

as a senior, and set the school record for the 110-yard intermediate hurdles in track & field.

College career

Johnson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach

Steve Spurrier Stephen Orr Spurrier (born April 20, 1945) is an American former football player and coach. He played ten seasons in the National Football League (NFL) before coaching for 38 years, primarily in college. He is often referred to by his nicknam ...

and coach

Ron Zook Ronald Andrew Zook (; born April 28, 1954) is an American football coach who is a special teams quality control coach at the University of Maryland. He was the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and the Universit ...

's Gators football teams from

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

.
2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide
'', University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, p. 97, 99, 125, 153–154, 182 (2011). Retrieved August 29, 2011. The Gators coaching staff decided to

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Sports * Redshirt (college sports) 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 ...

him as a true freshman in 1998, and he spent the season practicing with the scout team; subsequently, Johnson became a four-year

letterman Letterman may refer to: * Letterman (sports), a classification of high school or college athlete in the United States People * David Letterman (born 1947), American television talk show host ** ''Late Night with David Letterman'', talk show that ...

and started in thirty-three out of forty-nine games in which he played.GatorZone.com, Football History, 2002 Roster
Todd Johnson
. Retrieved October 9, 2010. As a redshirt freshman in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, he had twenty-four tackles, four passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. During his sophomore season in

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, he started all thirteen games, led the team with a career-high 102 tackles, and had five interceptions, three passes defensed, one forced fumble, and four fumble recoveries, including one returned seventy-six yards for a touchdown, and received first-team

All-Southeastern Conference The All-SEC football team is an annual Southeastern Conference (SEC) honor bestowed on the best players in the conference following every college football season. Seasons

Following is a list of all-conference teams in the history of the SEC: ...

(SEC) honors. Johnson started all eleven games as junior in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, tallying seventy-two tackles, three passes defensed, and two interceptions and again received first-team All-SEC honors. As a senior team captain in

, he started all thirteen games, and compiled eighty-eight tackles and two interceptions and was a second-team All-SEC selection. Johnson finished his Gator career with a total of 284 tackles and nine interceptions. Johnson graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in applied physiology and

kinesiology Kinesiology () is the scientific study of human body movement. Kinesiology addresses physiological, anatomical, Biomechanics, biomechanical, Pathology, pathological, neuropsychological principles and mechanisms of movement. Applications of kines ...

in 2009.

Professional career

Chicago Bears

Johnson was selected by the

in the fourth round (100th pick overall) in the

2003 NFL draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. He played for the Bears for four seasons from to .National Football League, Historical Players
Todd Johnson
Retrieved October 9, 2010. He did not appear in any regular season games in 2003, after suffering a broken jaw in a preseason game. He returned in , playing in sixteen games including ten starts, and finished the season with seventy-five tackles. Johnson was Mike Brown's immediate backup during his time with the Bears, and saw extended playing time following Brown's season-ending injury in 2004. The following year, , Johnson saw action in fourteen games, totaling thirty-five tackles. Johnson made thirty-two tackles during , and was released following the season.

St. Louis Rams

Johnson signed a four-year $4 million contract to play with the

on March 12, 2007. In his first season with the Rams, he finished the campaign with 29 tackles. In 2008 Johnson made 23 tackles in a backup safety role. He was waived by the Rams on September 5, 2009.

Buffalo Bills

On October 13, 2009, Johnson signed a one-year free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills. Johnson was placed on injured reserve on January 2, 2010, due to a hamstring injury.

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Coaching career

Johnson became the head football coach of his alma mater, Riverview High School, in 2011.Scott Dennis,
Todd Johnson named new Riverview football coach
" WWSB ABC-7 News (April 6, 2011). Retrieved January 15, 2012. He has also been a fill-in substitute teacher since 2012.

References

Bibliography

* Carlson, Norm, ''University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators'', Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). . * Golenbock, Peter, ''Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory'', Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). . * Hairston, Jack, ''Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told'', Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). . {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Todd 1978 births Living people American football safeties Buffalo Bills players Chicago Bears players Florida Gators football players Players of American football from Sarasota, Florida St. Louis Rams players Riverview High School (Sarasota, Florida) alumni