Charles Edward Johnson (born May 2, 1984) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

guard Guard or guards may refer to: Professional occupations * Bodyguard, who protects an individual from personal assault * Crossing guard, who stops traffic so pedestrians can cross the street * Lifeguard, who rescues people from drowning * Prison ...

. He 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

Oklahoma State University Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

Cowboys, and was drafted by the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in the sixth round of the

2006 NFL Draft The 2006 National Football League Draft, the 71st in league history, took place in New York City, New York, at Radio City Music Hall on April 29 and April 30, 2006. For the 27th consecutive year, the draft was telecast on ESPN and ESPN2, with ad ...

. He won

Super Bowl XLI Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

with the Colts against the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

Early years

Johnson attended Sherman High School in Sherman, Texas, the same high school former Colts' punter

Hunter Smith Hunter Dwight Smith (born August 9, 1977) is a former American football punter. He was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the seventh round of the 1999 NFL Draft. He played college football at Notre Dame. Smith earned a Super Bowl ring ...

attended. At

Oklahoma State Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

, he was converted from a

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like ...

to an offensive tackle.

Professional career

Indianapolis Colts

Johnson was selected with the Indianapolis Colts' sixth-round pick in the 2006 NFL draft. As a rookie, he started one game, filling in for the injured right tackle

Ryan Diem Ryan Edwin Diem (born July 1, 1979) is a former American football offensive lineman who played his entire 11-year professional career for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League. Diem was born in Roselle, Illinois, played colle ...

against Tennessee in week 13, and, additionally, filled in for Diem for a portion of

. Due to the retirement of stalwart LT

Tarik Glenn Tarik Glenn (born May 25, 1976) is a former American football offensive tackle who played 10 seasons for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL).. He played college football for California and was drafted by the Colts in t ...

, Johnson had an opportunity to win the starting left tackle job during his second season, but was beaten out by rookie Tony Ugoh. Injuries to Ugoh and Diem, however, led to Johnson starting 10 of 16 games at LT and RT, respectively. Johnson's performance during the 2007 was widely viewed by fans as a disappointment (that season marked the first time in five years that the Colts finished out of the top 5 in least sacks allowed), considering the competence he had shown as a rookie. In Johnson's third season, he was moved to left guard in order to compensate for the loss of injured starter

Ryan Lilja Ryan Matthew Lilja (born October 15, 1981) is a former American football center and guard. He played college football at Kansas State, and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent in 2004, and later played with them from 201 ...

. Johnson started all 16 games, 12 at LG and 4 at LT, and was one of only two starting OL (the other being Ryan Diem) to play in every game that season. The following year, Johnson beat out underachieving starter Tony Ugoh for the starting LT position during training camp. Through six games, Johnson had demonstrated solid improvement at his position, in contrast to previous years' performances.

Minnesota Vikings

On August 1, 2011, Johnson signed with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

. He played left tackle in his first full season with the Vikings but was then moved to left guard after the team drafted tackle

Matt Kalil Matthew Francis Kalil (born July 6, 1989) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football at USC and was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings fourth overall in the 2012 NFL Draft. He was also a member of the Carolina Pan ...

from

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. On February 27, 2015, Johnson was released by the Vikings. He is currently (2017) the offensive line coach for Stillwater High School in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

Personal life

On December 18, 2012, Johnson appeared on an episode of

Ink Master ''Ink Master'' is an American reality competition television series that originally aired on Paramount Network (formerly called Spike), premiering on January 17, 2012. The show features tattoo artists who compete in various challenges assessing th ...

where he received a tattoo of a dragon on his right forearm by contestant

Tatu Baby Katherine "Kat" Flores (born October 28, 1987), known professionally as Tatu Baby, is an American tattoo artist and reality television personality. She was a contestant on ''Ink Master'' season 2 in 2012, where she placed fourth, and season 3 ...

External links

Minnesota Vikings bioIndianapolis Colts bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Charlie 1984 births Living people People from Durant, Oklahoma People from Sherman, Texas Players of American football from Texas African-American players of American football American football offensive guards American football offensive tackles Sherman High School (Texas) alumni Oklahoma State Cowboys football players Indianapolis Colts players Minnesota Vikings players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people