Charles Everett Johnson (January 3, 1972 – July 17, 2022) was an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player who was a wide receiver for nine seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, and

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

from 1994 to 2002, having earlier played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for the

Colorado Buffaloes The Colorado Buffaloes are the athletic teams that represent the University of Colorado. The university sponsors 17 varsity sports teams. Both the men's and women's teams are called the Buffaloes (Buffs for short) or, rarely, the Golden Buffalo ...

Early life

Johnson was born in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino (; Spanish for "Saint Bernardino") is a city and county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 cen ...

, on January 3, 1972. He attended

Cajon High School Cajon High School is located in the University District of San Bernardino, California, and is part of the San Bernardino City Unified School District. Academics Cajon High School is part of the International Baccalaureate Organization (IB) incl ...

in his hometown. He then studied at the

University of Colorado Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado syst ...

where he played

for the

. He also served as president of the Black Student Alliance and ran unsuccessfully for student body president, after being disqualified on account of being a continuing education student who had not yet paid his university fees. However, his name stayed on the ballot because the voting lists could not be changed in time and he received the most votes, with the result annulled by the university's election commissioner three days later. Johnson was drafted by the

in the first round (17th overall selection) of the

1994 NFL Draft The 1994 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 1994, at the Marriott Mar ...

Professional career

Johnson made his NFL debut with the Steelers on September 4, 1994, at the age of 22, in a 26–9 loss to the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

. He played in 16 games (9 starts) during his rookie season and made the seventh-longest

reception Reception is a noun form of ''receiving'', or ''to receive'' something, such as art, experience, information, people, products, or vehicles. It may refer to: Astrology * Reception (astrology), when a planet is located in a sign ruled by another p ...

in the NFL that year (84 yards). He was on the Steelers' injured reserve when the team reached the

Super Bowl XXX Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...

the following year, losing 27–17 to the Cowboys. During the 1996 season, Johnson finished tenth in the league in yards per reception (16.8), and led the franchise in

receiving yards Receiving may refer to: * ''Kabbalah'', "receiving" in Hebrew * Receiving department (or receiving dock), in a distribution center * Receiving house, a theater * Receiving line, in a wedding reception * Receiving mark, postmark * Receiving partn ...

(1008), the only 1,000-yard season in his career. He recorded career-highs in touchdown catches (7) and receptions (65) two years later. He joined the

as an

unrestricted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

on a five-year, $15 million contract at the conclusion of the 1998 season. In his first season with the Eagles, Johnson was tied for the most

safeties Safety is the condition of being protected against harmful conditions or events, or the control of hazards to reduce risk. Safety may also refer to: Places * Safety Island, Antarctica Government * The Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the ...

in the NFL (1). He went on to start in all 27 games during his two seasons with the franchise, leading the Eagles with 7 touchdown catches in 2000 (tying his career-high), and finishing second in receptions (56) that year. After being released by the team in April 2001, he signed with the

and won a Super Bowl ring when the team upset the

St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...

to win its first league championship. He then played his final year in the NFL with the

before retiring at the end of the 2002 season.

NFL career statistics

Later life and death

After retiring from professional football, Johnson was employed as an assistant athletic director at Heritage High School in

Wake Forest, North Carolina Wake Forest is a town in Franklin, Granville and Wake counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina; located almost entirely in Wake County, it lies just north of the state capital, Raleigh. At the 2020 census, the population was 47,601. That is ...

, working with other retired NFL players including

Dewayne Washington Dewayne Neron Washington (born December 27, 1972) is an American former football cornerback in the National Football League (NFL). He played for the Minnesota Vikings, the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Kansas City Chief ...

(head coach),

Willie Parker William Everett Parker Jr. (born November 11, 1980) is an American former football running back who played for six seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). After playing college football for North Carolina, he ...

, and

Torry Holt Torry Jabar Holt (born June 5, 1976) is a former professional American football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for eleven seasons. He was named to the Pro Bowl seven times and retired with the 10th most rec ...

(fellow assistants). Johnson died on July 17, 2022, at the age of 50. The death was ruled a suicide after apparently overdosing on drugs, according to a report released January 2023 by the state medical examiner's office in North Carolina.

References

External links

Colorado Buffaloes 1990 season statistics

Just Sports Stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Charles 1972 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American sportspeople African-American players of American football American football wide receivers Buffalo Bills players Colorado Buffaloes football players New England Patriots players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Players of American football from California Sportspeople from San Bernardino, California Ed Block Courage Award recipients 2022 suicides