Ellis Johnson (defensive lineman)


Ellis Bernard Johnson is an American former college and professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League for ten seasons during the 1990s and 2000s. Johnson played college football for the University of Florida, and was recognized as the National Defensive Player of the Year. He was picked in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft, and played professionally for the Indianapolis Colts, Atlanta Falcons and Denver Broncos of the NFL.

Early life

Johnson was born in Wildwood, Florida in 1973. He attended Wildwood High School, where he played high school football for the Wildwood Wildcats.

College career

Johnson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football team from 1991 to 1994. As a senior team captain on the Gators' 1994 Southeastern Conference championship team, Johnson was a first-team All-SEC selection, an honorable mention All-American, and CNN's National Defensive Player of the Year; he was also selected by his Gators teammates as the team's most valuable player. He finished his four years as a Gator with 16.3 quarterback sacks and 26.8 tackles for a loss.
In a retrospective series published by The Gainesville Sun in 2006, Johnson was rated No. 32 among the top 100 Gators of the first 100 seasons of Florida football. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2007.

Professional career

The Indianapolis Colts selected Johnson in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft, and he played for the Colts from to. During those seven seasons, he started eighty-four of 104 games, recording 269 tackles, thirty-three quarterback sacks and two interceptions.
Johnson signed with the Atlanta Falcons before the season, and he played for the Falcons from to. In the two years, he started five of thirty-two games, recording sixty-seven tackles, and fifteen sacks. Johnson was traded by the Falcons to the Denver Broncos before the season in exchange for the Broncos' fifth-round selection in the 2005 NFL draft. In his only season with the Broncos, he played in thirteen games, recording sixteen tackles, three sacks and an interception. The interception came on a deflected pass in the famous "snow game" with the Oakland Raiders, and Johnson put on an impressive burst of speed to reach the end zone.
In his ten-year NFL career, Johnson appeared in 149 regular season games, started in eighty-nine of them, and was responsible for 356 tackles.