Saturday, July 27th, 2024

Landon Johnson | 1996-1998 | Coronado High School | Football

Landon Johnson played football at Coronado High School from 1996-1998. Johnson was a three-time All District pick, a three time All-City pick, a two time All-South Plains pick, and as a senior, he was the District Defensive MVP.

As a senior, he was also awarded the 1998 Lubbock Avalanche-Journal 1998 Player of the Year on the All-City team. He was also chosen to participate in the California-Texas All-Star game as well as the Texas High School Association All-Star game.

Johnson holds the school career record for tackles (401 tackles), and he was an excellent student, graduating with a 4.0 GPA.

Johnson played collegiately at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. He played in 47 games during his career, starting 45. He recorded 345 tackles (222 individual) and 8 1/2 sacks. He was named Honorable Mention All Big-Ten Conference in 2002 and 2003, and was named an Academic All-Big Ten team member for all four years. He graduated in May 2003 with a degree in General Health Science.

He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals of the NFL in the 3rd round of the 2004 NFL draft and signed on July 20th of that year. 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 (over 13 per game). 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. Johnson later went on to play for the Carolina Panthers for three seasons and signed with the Detroit Lions in March, 2010. He is currently playing for the Lions.
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