Larry Johnson

Larry Alphonso Johnson Jr. (born November 19, 1979) is an American former football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL).

His 257 yards in a 49–0 home thrashing of Northwestern broke Curt Warner's previous record of 256 yards set against Syracuse in 1981.

He then went on to rack up 279 yards in an 18–7 home win against Illinois and 327 yards in a 58–25 road win against Indiana.

He surpassed the 2,000-yard mark by gaining 279 yards on just 19 attempts in the Penn State Nittany Lions' final Big Ten Conference game against Michigan State.

Johnson gained all 279 of his rushing yards in the first half, and was kept on the bench for the entire second half of the game.

Johnson attended Pennsylvania State University, and played for coach Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions football team from 1999 to 2002.

He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, where he won the Maxwell Award and was a unanimous All-American in 2002.

Johnson broke the Penn State record for rushing yards in a game three times in 2002.

He finished the 2002 season with 2,087 yards.

Following his 2002 senior season, Johnson was a first-team All-Big Ten selection and a unanimous first-team All-American.

He also won the Doak Walker Award (top running back), the Maxwell Award (top college player), and the Walter Camp Award (top college player).

Johnson rushed for 2,159 yards and 29 touchdowns.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in integrative arts from Penn State in 2002.

He was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the first round of the 2003 NFL Draft, and also played for the Cincinnati Bengals, the Washington Redskins, and the Miami Dolphins.

Johnson was born in Pomfret, Maryland.

He was one of three children born to Christine and Larry Johnson Sr. His father is a former high school vice-principal, a high school football coach, former defensive line coach at Penn State University, and the current defensive line coach at Ohio State University.

Johnson graduated from State College Area High School in State College, Pennsylvania, where he played for the State College Little Lions high school football team.

Johnson was drafted in the first round with the 27th overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft as insurance for the Kansas City Chiefs, who were unsure if Priest Holmes would be healthy or even sign a contract extension.

Johnson was drafted over the objection of head coach Dick Vermeil, who wanted to select a defensive player, and despite the lack of recent NFL success by Penn State running backs (Blair Thomas, Ki-Jana Carter, and Curtis Enis).

Vermeil criticized Johnson for his casual approach toward preparation.

The conflicts between Johnson and Vermeil grew, and in 2004 Vermeil said that Johnson needed to grow up and "take the diapers off."

Johnson took great offense to this comment, and the public estrangement led to rumors that he would be traded.

However, towards the end of the 2004 season, Johnson got an opportunity to start after injuries to Priest Holmes and Derrick Blaylock.

Facing the same situation in 2005, with Blaylock gone and Holmes having gone down with a season-ending neck injury in early November, Johnson on November 20 against the Houston Texans ran for a Chiefs' record 211 rushing yards and two touchdowns.

He led the league in rushing yards and touchdowns after the injury to Holmes.

At the end of the 2005 regular season, Johnson had nine consecutive games with 100+ rushing yards, passing the 100-yard mark in every start for the Chiefs that season and earning a Pro Bowl berth.

During the final game of the 2005 regular season, Johnson set a new franchise record of 1,750 rushing yards in one season, despite not starting in 7 games during the season.

In addition Johnson caught 33 passes for 343 yards, averaging over 10 yards per reception.

Johnson was named the 2005 MVP for the Chiefs.

The Chiefs' record in 2005 was 10–6, but they did not make the playoffs in spite of a winning record.

With injuries limiting Holmes during the previous two seasons, Johnson began the 2006 season as Kansas City's featured back.

He rushed for 1,789 yards (second in the league) on 416 carries, an NFL record for most carries in a season.

The Chiefs made an appearance in the playoffs with a 9–7 record, where Johnson ran for 32 yards on 13 carries against the Indianapolis Colts.

At the conclusion of the season, Johnson was selected for his second Pro Bowl appearance.

On June 21, 2007, Johnson stated that he was willing to sit out the Chiefs' training camp unless he and the Chiefs reached an agreement on a new contract.

On July 22, rumors spread about Johnson being traded to the Green Bay Packers.

The initial asking price was a first-, second-, and third-round draft pick.

Starting on July 27 with the beginning of training camp, he began a holdout during which he was fined $14,000 per day by the team, and did not report to training camp until nearly a month later when he and the team agreed to a five-year contract extension that locked Johnson up with the Chiefs through the 2012 season.

As a senior in 2002, he rushed for over 2,000 yards in a season without winning the Heisman Trophy, despite doing so with fewer carries than any other running back in the 2,000-yard club (this record was broken on November 22, 2014, by Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon, who gained 2,000 yards on 241 carries—10 fewer than Johnson's 251 ).

He averaged 8.0 yards per carry during the regular season.