Tom Johnson is officially hanging up his cleats. The former Vikings defensive tackle is retiring from the NFL, he told Chris Tomasson of the St. Paul Pioneer Press (Twitter link).
We heard early last offseason that Minnesota was interested in bringing him back, but Johnson ended up spending 2019 out of football. Johnson said he had some offers from teams but didn’t want to play on a minimum deal, Tomasson tweets. The Southern Miss product was an undrafted free agent in 2006, and it took him a while to find his footing in the league. After playing in NFL Europe, the AFL, and the CFL, he finally made his NFL debut in 2011 with the Saints.
He broke out in 2014 with the Vikings, racking up 6.5 sacks. The following year he started eight games, and had another 5.5 sacks. In 2017 he started 15 games and was a large part of the defense that made it to the NFC Championship Game. He signed with Seattle in 2018 but quickly ended up back in Minnesota when the Seahawks cut him after just one game.
Johnson will finish his playing days with 186 tackles and 25.5 sacks in 116 games. He carved out a remarkable career for such an unheralded prospect, and all of us here at PFR wish him the best in retirement.
Solid guy for most of his career, a quietly really decent career
His nickname is Sebastian Thunderbucket.
Beat me to it!
Best of luck in the future for Mr. Thunderbucket, er, Johnson.
I’m just glad he got a fair shot in that excessive force case. It sounds like a rare instance where somebody (by profile or otherwise) is taken advantage of and is able to have a legitimate outcome.
Kudos to Mr. Thunderbucket!