Ted Johnson

Infobox NFLretired


|caption=
position=Linebacker
number=52
birthdate=birth date and age|1972|12|4
Alameda, California
debutyear=1995
finalyear=2004
draftyear=1995
draftround=2
draftpick=57
college=Colorado
teams=
* New England Patriots (1995-2004)
stat1label=Tackles
stat1value=763
stat2label=Sacks
stat2value=11.5
stat3label=Interceptions
stat3value=1
nfl=JOH677551
highlights=
* 3x Super Bowl champion (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX)
HOF=
CollegeHOF=

Ted Curtis Johnson (born December 4, 1972) is a former American football player in the National Football League. He grew up in Carlsbad, California where he graduated from Carlsbad High School in 1991. From there he attended the University of Colorado and was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 1995 NFL Draft with the 57th overall selection. He helped the Patriots reach Super Bowl XXXI and win Super Bowl XXXVI, Super Bowl XXXVIII, and Super Bowl XXXIX.

In his ten-year professional career, Johnson played in 125 regular season games and recorded 757 tackles, 11.5 sacks, one interception, 16 passes defensed, six forced fumbles, and seven fumble recoveries.

Retirement

Johnson retired before the 2005 NFL season after sustaining multiple concussions during his career. He spent the 2005 season as a football analyst for Boston television station WBZ-TV, but resigned from the station in 2006. He now resides in Boston in the South End.

Post-career trouble

On February 1, 2007 Johnson made news when he told the "New York Times" that he suffers from amphetamine addiction, depression and headaches related to post-concussion syndrome and Second Impact Syndrome [ [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/sports/football/02concussions.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Dark Days Follow Hard-Hitting Career in N.F.L. - New York Times ] ] He placed some blame on his former coach Bill Belichick for pressuring him to participate in full contact practice drills three days after suffering a concussion in an exhibition game against the New York Giants in August 2002. Johnson reported that during the drills, he suffered a second concussion, and he argues that Belichick asked him to participate against the advice of the team's head trainer. Belichick denies these allegations. Johnson also stated that every night is "Ted Johnson Night". Some thought Johnson's revelation was suspect based upon a December 20, 2006 column in the "Boston Herald" where columnist Michael Felger said Johnson told him that he would have considered playing for the Patriots in 2006 had they asked (in the wake of a season-ending injury to linebacker Junior Seau). [ [http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=172991] ] However in a February 14, 2007 interview on the Dennis and Callahan Show on WEEI, Johnson claimed he wasn't being serious when he said that, and in fact stated he said it sarcastically.

The Boston Globe and the New York Times reported in February that Johnson shows early signs of Alzheimer's disease. [cite web
url=http://weei.podzinger.com/results.jsp?feed=http://media.weei.podzinger.com/feed/DennisAndCallahan.xml&feedid=3581%col=en-all-pod_weei-ep&il=en
title=WEEI Dennis and Callahan audio vault
date = 2007-02-14
publisher=WEEI
accessdate=2007-02-14]

On July 16, 2006, Johnson and his wife, Jackie, were both arrested after an alleged domestic violence incident at their home in Weston, Massachusetts, but refused to press charges against each other. The couple divorced in December 2006.

References