Lee Johnson

Leland Eric Johnson (born November 27, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a punter for 18 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the BYU Cougars and was selected by the Houston Oilers in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL draft. He later played for the Cleveland Browns, Cincinnati Bengals, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, and Philadelphia Eagles.

Early life and college Johnson was born in Conroe, Texas, and was a punter and kicker for McCullough High School in The Woodlands, Texas.

Johnson was a punter at Brigham Young University and was a member of their 1984 national championship team. He was nicknamed "Thunderfoot" while at BYU.

Professional career After graduating college, Johnson was selected by the Houston Oilers in the fifth round of the 1985 NFL draft.

In his 18 seasons, Johnson played in 259 games and recorded 1,226 punts for 51,979 yards and 317 punts in the 20, with 142 touchbacks. His 70-yard punt in 1990 was the longest of the season, and he led the NFL with a 38.5 net yard average in 1995. At the time of his retirement, his 51,979 punting yards were the third most in NFL history behind Sean Landeta and Jeff Feagles.

Johnson's most successful years in the NFL were with the Bengals, where he spent 11 of his 18 seasons and made a championship game appearance in Super Bowl XXIII. In that game, Johnson set a record for the longest punt in Super Bowl history (63 yards). By 1998, Johnson had become extremely frustrated with Cincinnati, which had not recorded a winning season since 1990. After a 33–20 loss at home during the 1998 season, Johnson publicly denounced Bengals management and said if he was a Cincinnati fan with season tickets, he would probably sell them. Johnson was cut by the Bengals the following day, and subsequently signed with the Patriots in the following season. He left the Bengals as their all-time leading punter with 746 punts for 32,196 yards and 186 punts in the 20.

Johnson was the Patriots punter for the next two years, but was cut by the team five games into the 2001 season. He spent the rest of the year with the Vikings and played his final season with the Eagles before retiring from the NFL at age 41.

NFL career statistics Legend Won the Super Bowl Led the league Bold Career high

Regular season Year Team Punting Punts 1985 HOU 16 83 3,464 2,959 65 41.7 35.7 0 22 8 1986 HOU 16 88 3,623 3,140 66 41.2 35.7 0 26 9 1987 HOU 9 41 1,652 1,349 59 40.3 32.9 0 5 3 CLE 3 9 317 291 66 35.2 32.3 0 3 1 1988 CLE 3 17 643 - 61 37.8 - 0 0 0 CIN 12 14 594 514 52 42.4 36.7 0 4 1 1989 CIN 16 61 2,446 1,903 62 40.1 30.2 2 14 11 1990 CIN 16 64 2,705 2,193 70 42.3 34.3 0 12 8 1991 CIN 16 64 2,795 2,219 62 43.7 34.7 0 15 6 1992 CIN 16 76 3,196 2,732 64 42.1 35.9 0 15 9 1993 CIN 16 90 3,954 3,298 60 43.9 36.6 0 24 12 1994 CIN 16 79 3,461 2,822 64 43.8 35.3 1 19 9 1995 CIN 16 68 2,861 2,627 61 42.1 38.6 0 26 4 1996 CIN 16 80 3,630 2,788 67 45.4 34.4 1 16 17 1997 CIN 16 81 3,471 2,904 66 42.9 35.9 0 27 8 1998 CIN 13 69 3,083 2,495 69 44.7 35.6 1 14 8 1999 NWE 16 90 3,735 3,110 58 41.5 34.6 0 23 14 2000 NWE 16 89 3,798 3,314 62 42.7 36.8 1 31 5 2001 NWE 5 24 1,045 920 76 43.5 38.3 0 3 3 MIN 4 25 983 859 59 39.3 34.4 0 9 3 2002 PHI 2 14 523 388 53 37.4 27.7 0 4 2 Career 259 1,226 51,979 42,825 76 42.4 34.8 6 312 141

Playoffs Year Team Punting Punts 1987 CLE 2 3 133 120 59 44.3 40.0 0 1 0 1988 CIN 3 17 718 630 63 42.2 37.1 0 7 0 1990 CIN 2 8 393 334 64 49.1 41.8 0 1 0 2002 PHI 2 12 486 448 64 40.5 37.3 0 6 0 Career 9 40 1,730 1,532 64 43.3 38.3 0 15 0

Post-football Johnson is a mountain cyclist, having competed in the Leadville 100 nine times, with a personal best time of 9 hours 27 minutes. Johnson owns a barbecue restaurant, Five Star BBQ, with two others, in Orem, Utah.