Rufus Johnson (born August 28, 1990) 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 end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

. He was selected 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 sixth round of the

2013 NFL draft The 2013 NFL Draft was the 78th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible football players. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held at Radio City Music Hall in ...

. 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 ...

Tarleton State Tarleton State University is a public university with its main campus in Stephenville, Texas. It is a founding member of the Texas A&M University System and enrolled over 14,000 students in the fall of 2020. History John Tarleton Agricultural ...

College career

Johnson is only the fourth player from Tarleton to be drafted by the NFL, and as the 183rd overall pick he is the highest NFL draft pick in school history. As a senior, he was Lone Star Conference defensive lineman of the year, and was chosen for several Division II all-America teams. Before Tarleton, he spent two years at Kilgore College. He caught the Saints' attention with a strong performance at the Texas vs The Nation all-star game.

Professional career

New Orleans Saints

Johnson spent the entire 2013 regular season on the Saints practice squad, but was promoted for the teams divisional round playoff matchup against the Seattle Seahawks, Johnson was inactive for the game. The Saints released Johnson on August 26, 2014.

New England Patriots

On December 31, 2014, 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 ...

signed Johnson to a future/reserve contract. After impressing many in the preseason Johnson made the Patriots 53-man roster for the start of the 2015 NFL season, he appeared in his first game as a pro and recorded his first tackle in the Patriots week two victory against Buffalo. On October 28, 2015, he was placed on the reserve/non-football injury list due to an illness, ending his 2015 season. On September 3, 2016, Johnson was released by the Patriots as part of final roster cuts and was signed to the practice squad the next day. On September 7, 2016, Johnson was released from the Patriots' practice squad.

Washington Redskins

Johnson signed to the Redskins' practice squad on December 28, 2016. He signed a futures contract with the Redskins on January 2, 2017. On May 2, 2017, Johnson was waived by the Redskins.

Oakland Raiders

On August 4, 2017, Johnson was signed by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raide ...

. He was waived on September 2, 2017.

References

External links

New Orleans Saints bio

Tarleton State bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Rufus 1990 births Living people American football defensive ends American football linebackers Tarleton State Texans football players New Orleans Saints players New England Patriots players Washington Redskins players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Dallas