Johnathan Lamar Sullivan (born January 21, 1981) 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 ...

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

who played 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 college football at

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and was drafted sixth overall by the

New Orleans Saints The New Orleans Saints are a professional American football team based in New Orleans. The Saints compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. Since 1975, the te ...

in the

2003 NFL Draft The 2003 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League (NFL) teams selected amateur college football players. The draft is known officially as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting" and has been conducted annually since 1936 NF ...

. In the 2004 pre-season, Sullivan reported to training camp out of shape, at nearly 350 pounds, and lost his starting job. Sullivan was inactive for the final eight games of the 2004 season due to a combination of poor play, bad attitude and lackluster work ethic. When Sullivan was inactive for a game against the

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined th ...

, he appeared in the press box for the pre-game meal. In the 2005 pre-season, Saints general manager

Mickey Loomis Mickey Loomis is the executive vice president and General manager of the NFL's New Orleans Saints. He was named NFL executive of the year for 2006. From 2012-2019, he was also head of basketball operations for the New Orleans Pelicans of the N ...

pulled Sullivan out of a team meeting to tell him to improve his diet and behavior. In June 2006, the Saints traded Sullivan to the

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 ...

in exchange for wide receiver

Bethel Johnson Bethel Johnson (born February 11, 1979) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was selected by the New England Patriots in the second round of the 2003 NFL Draft. H ...

. Neither Johnson nor Sullivan ever played for his new team, as Johnson was waived and 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 ...

in September 2006. Sullivan never played for New England and was waived on October 9, 2006. On June 26, 2006, Sullivan was stopped by police near

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

and charged with possession of less than an ounce of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...

, among other charges.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sullivan, Johnathan 1981 births Living people American football defensive tackles Georgia Bulldogs football players New Orleans Saints players New England Patriots players Sportspeople from Griffin, Georgia Players of American football from Georgia (U.S. state)