Johnny Ray Jolly Jr. (born February 21, 1983) 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 wi ...
defensive tackle who played for the
Green Bay Packers in two separate stints: the first, from 2006 to 2009, and the second, in 2013. He was drafted in the sixth round (183rd overall) 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 add ...
, and played college football at
Texas A&M
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
.
High school
During his high school years, Jolly was a three-time all-district defensive lineman at
Forest Brook High School
Forest Brook High School was a high school located at 7525 Tidwell Road in Houston, Texas, United States. Serving grades 9 through 12, Forest Brook was a part of the North Forest Independent School District. It is now the site of Forest Brook Mid ...
in
Houston, Texas.
College career
Jolly attended
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...
and became a starting defensive tackle after his breakout 2003 sophomore campaign. In this season, Jolly totaled his collegiate best 95 tackles along with two sacks and eight pass deflections. His success in 2003 resulted in double teams on a weekly basis in his junior and senior seasons. Although his statistics dropped because of this, Jolly was awarded
Big 12
The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its f ...
all-conference honors for his final two seasons.
His college career is highlighted by what has come to be known as the "Jolly Dance", where, during the fourth quarter of a game in which his Texas A&M team was losing 77–0 to Oklahoma, the Sooners were attempting to run out the clock and end the game by running dive plays over and over into the middle of the line of scrimmage. On one such play, Jolly made a tackle for a loss and briefly celebrated, much to the chagrin of the television announcers and other spectators.
Professional career
Green Bay Packers
2006–2009
Jolly was drafted by the
Green Bay Packers in round six, pick 183 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 add ...
.
During his rookie season, Jolly struggled to get much playing time due to their deep defensive tackle rotation early in the season, but managed to get extensive playing time in the final four games of the 2006 season due to injuries of the more experienced players.
However, in his second year with Green Bay, he was promoted to starter in place of
Corey Williams. He excelled at the position until becoming injured right before a game against 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 divi ...
.
On July 16, 2010, and following
his delayed second trial for possession of codeine, he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL.
On February 11, 2011, Jolly began the process of applying for reinstatement. He was under contract with the Packers until the end of the 2011 season.
2013–2014
On February 27, 2013, Jolly was reinstated. On March 11, the Packers restructured Jolly's contract to $715,000. When Jolly was suspended in 2010 for violating the league's substance abuse policy, he had been tendered a $2.521 million contract as a restricted free agent. Since that contract tolled during his suspension, the Packers retained his rights.
On August 17, Jolly continued his solid pre-season against 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 arr ...
, by tipping a pass that led to an interception and then intercepting a pass in a 19–7 win. On August 31, Jolly officially made the Packers 53-man roster, completing his improbable return to the NFL. Jolly's season was prematurely ended in December 2013 with a neck injury. Jolly had surgery in January 2014. According to his agent, Jack Bechta, the surgery was between the C-5 and C-6 vertebrae. It is generally less severe than fusion surgery higher in the neck, which is the one that led to safety
Nick Collins' release and had ended tight end
Jermichael Finley
Jermichael Decorean Finley (born March 26, 1987) is a former American football tight end. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2008 NFL Draft. With the Packers, he attended the Super Bowl XLV win over the Pittsburg ...
's career.
In May 2014, Packers head coach
Mike McCarthy
Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). From 2006 to 2018, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, he led t ...
said: "I'll say this about Jermichael and Johnny: First and foremost, I just want them to be healthy. And then with that, they're obviously our players and we have strong interest in. We'll see what happens after that." On June 29, Jolly was cleared by doctors, but received no known interest from teams. The Packers publicly stated they "haven't ruled out bringing him back." During the preseason and eventual formation of the 2014 roster, the Packers gravitated toward linemen who were lighter and more agile than Jolly.
NFL statistics
Key
* GP: games played
* COMB: combined tackles
* TOTAL: total tackles
* AST: assisted tackles
* SACK: sacks
* FF: forced fumbles
* FR: fumble recoveries
* FR YDS: fumble return yards
* INT: interceptions
* IR YDS: interception return yards
* AVG IR: average interception return
* LNG: longest interception return
* TD: interceptions returned for touchdown
* PD: passes defensed
Criminal charges
On July 8, 2008, Houston police arrested Jolly for possession of at least 200 grams of
codeine, with intent to sell prescription cough syrup for use in making
purple drank
Lean, also known as purple drank, purp, sizzurp, syrup, wock, oil, joy juice, and several other names, is a recreational drug beverage, prepared by mixing prescription strength cough or cold syrup containing codeine and promethazine with a ...
, a second-degree felony. He appeared at court on July 22. He became the first Packer since 2000 to stand trial on a felony charge. Charges against Jolly were dismissed in a Texas court on July 16, but were refiled shortly after in December 2009. The dismissal stemmed from police awaiting new equipment that measures codeine amounts.
On July 16, 2010, with trial (oft-delayed) scheduled for the end of the month, the NFL officially suspended Jolly "indefinitely." His agent Dan Thompson had no official comment at the time; however, Jolly's leading defense attorney, Travis Damian, had filed a report with new and updated findings which may lead to a possible acquittal of the "indefinite" league suspension. As a result of being suspended, he missed out on the Packers
Super Bowl XLV
Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion ...
championship season.
On March 25, 2011, Jolly was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute after police allegedly found 600 grams of codeine in his vehicle. In addition, he was caught driving a car with a suspended license. Jolly was arrested and charged again on October 1, for possession of codeine and tampering with evidence by trying to hide the drug. On November 17, Jolly was sentenced to 6 years in prison for violation of probation in conjunction to his arrest for possession of narcotics.
On May 15, 2012, Jolly was granted early release with a 10-year
shock probation Shock probation is the US legal policy by which a judge orders a convicted offender to prison for a short time, and then suspends the remainder of the sentence in favor of probation. It is hoped that the initial experience of prison will provide ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jolly, Johnny
1983 births
Living people
American football defensive tackles
Green Bay Packers players
Texas A&M Aggies football players
American football defensive ends
Players of American football from Houston
Prisoners and detainees of Texas
American people convicted of drug offenses
American sportspeople convicted of crimes
Forest Brook High School alumni
Ed Block Courage Award recipients