Todd Johnson
Todd Edward Johnson is an American former professional football player who was a safety for seven seasons in the National Football League during the 2000s. Johnson played college football for the Florida Gators, and thereafter, he played in the NFL for the Chicago Bears, St. Louis Rams, and Buffalo Bills.
Early life
Johnson was born in Sarasota, Florida, in 1978. He attended Riverview High School in Sarasota, where he was a standout defensive back for the Riverview Rams high school football team. Johnson was an all-state selection and a SuperPrep All-American as a senior, and set the school record for the 110-yard intermediate hurdles in track & field.College career
Johnson accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Steve Spurrier and coach Ron Zook's Gators football teams from 1998 to 2002. The Gators coaching staff decided to redshirt him as a true freshman in 1998, and he spent the season practicing with the scout team; subsequently, Johnson became a four-year letterman and started in thirty-three out of forty-nine games in which he played. As a redshirt freshman in 1999, he had twenty-four tackles, four passes defensed, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. During his sophomore season in 2000, he started all thirteen games, led the team with a career-high 102 tackles, and had five interceptions, three passes defensed, one forced fumble, and four fumble recoveries, including one returned seventy-six yards for a touchdown, and received first-team All-Southeastern Conference honors. Johnson started all eleven games as junior in 2001, tallying seventy-two tackles, three passes defensed, and two interceptions and again received first-team All-SEC honors. As a senior team captain in 2002, he started all thirteen games, and compiled eighty-eight tackles and two interceptions and was a second-team All-SEC selection. Johnson finished his Gator career with a total of 284 tackles and nine interceptions.Johnson graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor's degree in applied physiology and kinesiology in 2009.