Looking back, Derrick Johnson realizes he was always the guy who laid the foundation even if he didn’t move into the house.
But he’s still a huge fan of the people who did.
“I was a building block for the University of Texas,” Johnson said. “The year after I left, they won a national championship. The year after I retired from the NFL, (the Kansas City Chiefs have) an opportunity to win the Super Bowl. It’s a pretty cool thing if you look at it in that sense.”
Johnson, a former star linebacker at Waco High, plans to head to Miami on Thursday to spend time with his former Chiefs teammates and coaches as they prepared to meet the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV on Sunday.
It’s been almost 15 years since Johnson, along with friends and relatives, gathered at his family’s house in Waco to watch the 2005 NFL Draft.
Back then, Johnson had just completed a stellar career at Texas, where he was a two-time All-American and a three-time All-Big 12 selection. He was expected to be a high draft pick and the Kansas City Chiefs came through, taking Johnson with the 15th overall pick.
A football player, even a first-round draft pick, never knows how many years he’ll get in the NFL or how many different teams’ uniforms he might wear. But Johnson became a Chief for life.
He played 13 seasons in Kansas City, piling up 941 solo tackles, 27.5 sacks and making the Pro Bowl four times. After playing one season for the Oakland Raiders in 2018, Johnson officially retired as a Chief last May.
“I really pull for them,” Johnson said. “I tell people I bleed burnt orange and I bleed (Chiefs) red. I’m rooting for the guys. It’s kind of a proud moment for me knowing that I was part of the building blocks.”
Johnson’s long career with one team gave him a unique perspective on NFL life. He played on three AFC West champions as well as teams that finished well below.500. He had five head coaches, four defensive coordinators and three general managers.
Through all of that, he became a savvy veteran.
“My first four years of my career, it was just ok,” Johnson said. “Sometimes I showed a lot of potential, sometimes I didn’t. Todd Haley (Chiefs head coach 2009-10), a guy that came in and tried to shake some things up, they benched me. I was in the last year of my deal. They weren’t too fond of me for whatever reason.
“That year, the fifth year of my career, I grew so much. I had some adversity I had to fight through. To fight through something that doesn’t favor you, usually leads to success. After that year, I learned to be a more consistent player and a more easily motivated player. After that year, I made some kind of Pro Bowl status every year. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a testament to a lot of hard work and pushing through adversity.”
Johnson’s ascent as a player was aided by the arrival of head coach Andy Reid in 2013. In the five seasons that Johnson played for Reid, the Chiefs went 53-27 in the regular season, won two division titles and made the playoffs four times.
“Andy is the best head coach I ever had in the NFL,” Johnson said. “He has so much confidence. When he speaks, you listen. He’s not a big rah-rah guy, he’s not a guy that’s going to talk your ear off. But there’s just something about his confidence and he’s always harped on the little things. Showing up to meetings on time or wearing the right equipment, doing the little things right you’ll accomplish big things.”
Johnson’s last season in Kansas City was 2017, when current Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was a rookie understudy to starter Alex Smith. The Chiefs lost to Tennessee in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, but it was evident they were on the rise.
“Everybody saw it,” Johnson said. “We had so much potential even with Alex Smith. Coach Andy Reid raised his level of play and it showed. We were a pretty good group of guys. He’s just a heck of a coach. He’s always had that stigma that he can’t win the big one, so for him to be in the Super Bowl, the last game, the ultimate goal is to be the last team standing. This is remarkable for him.”
Johnson, who lives in Austin and is working on finishing his bachelor’s degree in education from Texas, said he’ll make it back home to watch the game on Sunday. Coaching and/or TV analysis could be in Johnson’s future, and he likes to get in some practice while he’s watching his former team play.
“I’m going down (to Miami) on Thursday to go to some Chiefs events and be around the coaches and they guys for a few days,” Johnson said. “I am going to get back home on Sunday just so I can watch it in my domain. I’ll probably watch it just with family and friends. I even might pause it at times. I’m always trying to coach from the couch and looking at different schemes. It’s pretty cool, man.”
— WACOTRIB