Michael Connan Johnson (born November 26, 1962) 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 ...

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

who played ten 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 ...

, mainly with the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference ( ...

. Previously, he played in the

USFL The United States Football League (USFL) was a professional American football league that played for three seasons, 1983 through 1985. The league played a spring/summer schedule in each of its active seasons. The 1986 season was scheduled to be ...

for the

Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars The Philadelphia / Baltimore Stars were a professional American football team which played in the United States Football League (USFL) in the mid-1980s. Owned by real-estate magnate Myles Tanenbaum, they were the short-lived league's dominant t ...

for two seasons.

Early years

Johnson attended DeMatha Catholic High School. He was recruited by coach Billy Hite to play football at Virginia Tech. He was an architecture major during his tenure during college. He was an Academic All-American in 1982. His career was largely overshadowed by that of Bruce Smith during his college career. The Hokies went 31-14 during his career, but due to the time period in which they played, had to settle for only one bowl game. Despite never playing in the ACC, he was chosen to the 2011 ACC Legends team. His accomplishments at Tech earned him a spot in the Virginia Tech Sports Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Johnson was selected by the

Pittsburgh Maulers Pittsburgh Maulers may refer to: * Pittsburgh Maulers (1984), United States Football League team * Pittsburgh Maulers (2022) The Pittsburgh Maulers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Maulers compet ...

in the

1984 USFL Territorial Draft The 1984 USFL Territorial Draft was the second Territorial Draft of the United States Football League (USFL). It took place on January 4, 1984, at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. It included six new expansion teams. Player selections , - , ...

. He also was selected by the

in the 1st round (18th overall) of the

1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL Players The 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL players was a one-time draft of United States Football League and Canadian Football League players, held in the spring of 1984. Reason for the draft In New York City on Tuesday, June 5, startin ...

. He was traded to the Philadelphia Stars, where he played the

1984 USFL season The 1984 USFL season was the second season of the United States Football League. Rule changes * The USFL added the side judge to the game officials, making a seven-man crew. * Teams played preseason games in 1984. There had been no preseason ga ...

. The team moved to Baltimore for the

1985 USFL season The 1985 USFL season was the third and final season of the United States Football League (USFL), and the last by a league using that name until the 2022 USFL season. Rule changes Adopted instant replay for the 1985 season. Under the instant-rep ...

. In 1986, he joined the NFL after the USFL folded. He played his first three years in the NFL in a 3-4 defense. It wasn't until 1989 that the Browns then switched up to the more traditional 4-3 defense, at which Johnson started at middle linebacker until 1993. He made two trips to the Pro Bowl in 1989 and 1990, the latter in which he was an injury replacement. He was voted to the All-Pro team after the 1989 season. Mike has been voted by The Plain Dealer to the top 100 Browns of all-time at No. 69.

Personal life

Johnson played high school football at DeMatha High school in Hyattsville, Maryland. He graduated in the top 15% of his high school class. Johnson is the brother-in-law of former

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 ...

guard

Nate Newton Nathaniel Newton (born December 20, 1961) is a former American football guard in the National Football League for the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers. He also was a member of the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League. He p ...

, and uncle of

Texas Longhorns The Texas Longhorns are the athletic teams representing the University of Texas at Austin. The teams are sometimes referred to as the Horns and take their name from Longhorn cattle that were an important part of the development of Texas, and a ...

running back

Tre' Newton Nathaniel "Tre'" Newton III (born October 15, 1989) is a former American football running back. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and is a former starting running back for the Texas Longhorns. High school career Newton attended ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Mike 1962 births Living people American football linebackers Cleveland Browns players Detroit Lions players American Conference Pro Bowl players Virginia Tech Hokies football players Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars players People from Southport, North Carolina