Johnson attended Coronado High School in Lubbock, Texas and was a three-time All-District pick, a three time All-City pick, a two time All-League pick, and as a senior, he was the District Defensive M.V.P.. Furthermore, he holds the school career record for tackles, and he was also an excellent student who graduated with a 4.0 grade point average.
College career
Johnson played collegiately at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He played in 47 games during his career, starting 45 including 10 as a Defensive End. He recorded 345 tackles and 8½ sacks. He was named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten Conference in both 2002 and 2003, and was named Academic All-Big Ten team for all four years. He graduated in May 2003 with a degree in General Health Science.
Professional career
Cincinnati Bengals
After being drafted in the third round of the 2004 NFL Draft, Johnson contributed immediately with 11 starts at linebacker while playing in all 16 games. He ended the season as the team's leader with 133 tackles, 92 of which came in the last seven games. He became the third Bengals rookie to earn the tackling title, joining Takeo Spikes and James Francis. He also had six pass deflections, two sacks, a forced fumble and fumble recovery, and nine special teams tackles. His pass break-ups total was tied for the team-high for linebackers. On November 21, against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnson totaled 20 tackles, which was the most in the season for a player and the most for a player in the Marvin Lewis-era of coaching in Cincinnati. In his sophomore season in the league, 2005, Johnson totaled 87 total tackles on the season while playing all games on the year. Against the Baltimore Ravens, Johnson recorded five tackles and forced a fumble on tight end Todd Heap, which led to a Bengals' touchdown to put the team up 14-3 in the second quarter. In a December victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers, Johnson totaled 11 tackles and forced another fumble. In a December 24 contest with the Buffalo Bills, Johnson set a team-high for the season with 14 tackles. In 2006, Johnson totaled 113 tackles on the year and also recorded his first career interception. He began the season with 8 tackles in the season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs. The next game, he totaled five tackles and a fourth quarter interception against the Cleveland Browns, which was his first career interception ever. The following game, Johnson totaled a team-high 12 tackles against the Pittsburgh Steelers. He then had eight tackles in consecutive games: New England and Tampa Bay. He then led the team with 11 tackles against the Baltimore Ravens, followed by a team-high 8 tackles and a forced fumble on Lorenzo Neal against the San Diego Chargers. He then finished up against the New Orleans Saints with 14 tackles, a career-high. In the following shutout against the Browns, Johnson recorded five tackles and a sack that also resulted in a fumble. In the next game against the Ravens, Johnson recorded a team-high 13 tackles. In the December contest against the Indianapolis Colts, Johnson recorded 10 tackles, which was his fifth double-digit tackle game of the season. On the December 31 game against the Steelers, Johnson recorded six tackles and a pass deflection, and also forced a Willie Parker fumble on the one yard-line to stop the Steelers' score in the fourth quarter. The following season, 2007, Johnson won his third team tackling title with his career-high 143 tackles. His tackle total was 32 tackles ahead of the closest player, linebacker Dhani Jones. He finished the season leading the team in tackles in five games, while finishing second in another five games and was tied for the team lead with two fumble recoveries. He also had five pass deflections, fourth on the team. Johnson began the first eight games of the season at outside linebacker, but finished the second half of the season at middle linebacker due to other injuries on the team. Johnson began the season with 8 tackles against the Browns and then 7 against the Seahawks. Then against the Kansas City Chiefs, Johnson led the team with 10 tackles and also had a sack of Damon Huard. He was then second with 10 tackles against the Buffalo Bills, then led the team with 11 tackles against the Ravens. After missing most of the Tennessee game due to an injury, Johnson bounced back with consecutive 9-tackle games against the Steelers then the St. Louis Rams. He also had a third down stop for no gain on Rams' running backSteven Jackson. In the December victory over Cleveland, Johnson had a tackle on running back Jamal Lewis for no gain on a fourth down situation to add to his total of seven tackles. In the season finale against the Miami Dolphins, Johnson led the team with 11 tackles. Johnson became an unrestricted free agent in the 2008 offseason.
Carolina Panthers
On March 7, 2008, Johnson signed a three-year contract with the Carolina Panthers. He got injured in the 2008–2009 divisional game against Arizona after taking a big hit to the helmet from teammate Jon Beason, after Beason missed a tackle on Cardinals running back J. J. Arrington.
