Ellis Johnson (defensive lineman)
Ellis Bernard Johnson is an American former 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 selected 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 Florida Gators American football|football team|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.