Charles A. Johnson Jr., known as J.R. Johnson (born June 20, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a linebacker for one season in the National Football League (NFL) with the Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints. After playing college football for the Syracuse Orange, he was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2002 by Baltimore. Johnson also had stints with the Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts, Carolina Panthers, Oakland Raiders and Atlanta Falcons.
Early life J.R. Johnson was born on June 20, 1979, in Los Angeles, California. He went to high school at Cicero–North Syracuse. In his high school career, he had 2,870 yards and 50 touchdowns.https://dbukjj6eu5tsf.cloudfront.net/suathletics.com/documents/2002/3/8/johnsonjrbio.pdf He also had 9 interceptions and 221 tackles.
High school awards and honors SuperPrep All-American (1996) Grid Iron All-Star (1996) First-team All-Central New York (1996) Regional Elite Team (1996) Top 50 Athletes in New York (1996)
College career Johnson went to college at Syracuse University. He was redshirted in 1997, in 1998, his freshmen year, he played in 9 games. He had 16 tackles in the season. The next year he played in 8 games, he had 16 tackles. In 1999, he had 60 tackles and a sack in 10 games. He had 44 tackles in 2001.
Career college statistics Year Games Comb Tack Asst Int Sacks FF FR FRYds 1998 9 16 13 3 0 0 0 0 0 1999 8 16 12 4 0 0 0 0 0 2000 10 60 36 24 0 1.0 1 0 0 2001 12 44 24 20 0 0 0 0 0 Career 39 136 85 51 0 1.0 1 0 0
College Awards and Honors 1x BIG EAST Special Teams player of the week
Professional career Baltimore Ravens J.R. Johnson was signed as a undrafted free agent on April 25, 2002, by the Baltimore Ravens. He played in four games for the Ravens. He had 4 tackles. He also had one penalty. He was released on October 14.
New Orleans Saints One day after being released, he was signed by the New Orleans Saints. He played in one game for them. He was waived on December 8.
Seattle Seahawks The day after he was waived, he was claimed by the Seattle Seahawks. He was waived two days later.
Indianapolis Colts On January 7, 2003, he was signed by the Indianapolis Colts. He was released on August 26.
Carolina Panthers He was later signed by the Carolina Panthers, but he did not play in any games.
Oakland Raiders On November 19, he was signed by the Oakland Raiders. He was released on December 16. The Raiders were his 6th team in 2 years.
Atlanta Falcons He was signed on January 19, 2004, by the Atlanta Falcons. He was released on May 18. The Falcons were his last team.
Personal life His brother Curtis Johnson played in the NFL also. He was a defensive end and linebacker.
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