Early years

Riall grew up in

Lynnwood, Washington Lynnwood is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The city is part of the Seattle metropolitan area and is located north of Seattle and south of Everett, near the junction of Interstate 5 and Interstate 405. It is the fou ...

, where he attended Mariner High School. At Mariner he was considered one of the top football prospects in the USA.

College

He attended

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. In his junior year at Stanford he tied for the

Pac-10 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference, that operates in the Western United States, participating in 24 sports at the NCAA Division I level. Its College football, football teams compete in the NCAA D ...

lead in sacks with 13. In his senior year he not only led the Pac-10, but he also tied for the most sacks in the nation with future

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

star

Julius Peppers Julius Frazier Peppers (born January 18, 1980) is an American former professional football player who was a defensive end and outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the North Carolina Tar Heels, ...

. And he became the first player ever to lead the Pac-10 in sacks in back to back years.

Professional career

Despite all his success in college, he was selected in the 6th round of the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

by the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

. He played 3 years for the Bengals. He appeared in 32 games and made a total of 30 tackles most of which were on

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

. After spending the

2008 CFL season The 2008 CFL season was the 55th season of modern-day Canadian football, the 51st season for the Canadian Football League. It was also the first CFL season in which all of the league's regular season and post-season games, including the Grey Cup ...

with the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team competing in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), based in Toronto, Ontario ...

, Johnson was traded to the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

for linebacker

Zeke Moreno Ezekiel Aaron Moreno (born October 8, 1978) is a former professional American football linebacker. Early years Moreno, who is of Mexican descent, attended Castle Park High School in Chula Vista and was a letterman in football and baseball. In ...

on February 19, 2009. He was traded to the Montreal Alouettes in September 2009.

Personal

He is the brother of

Teyo Johnson Teyo Johnson (born November 29, 1981) is a Canadian former professional football player who was a tight end in the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the second round o ...

, a former wide receiver of the CFL's

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-old ...

References

External links

Just Sports StatsArgonauts.ca page
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Riall 1978 births Living people American football linebackers Black Canadian players of Canadian football Canadian players of American football Players of Canadian football from British Columbia Canadian emigrants to the United States Cincinnati Bengals players Stanford Cardinal football players Toronto Argonauts players People from White Rock, British Columbia Canadian football defensive linemen Players of American football from Snohomish County, Washington Players of Canadian football from Washington (state) Winnipeg Blue Bombers players Montreal Alouettes players Amsterdam Admirals players People from Lynnwood, Washington