Former Chiefs linebacker Nico Johnson retires from football

Former Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nico Johnson decided to retire from football and announced the decision via his Twitter account.

One of the members of John Dorsey’s first ever NFL draft class has announced his retirement from football entirely. Former University of Alabama star Nico Johnson has decided to hang up his cleats, announcing his decision via his Twitter account on Friday.

Johnson was the Kansas City Chiefs’ fourth round selection in the 2013 NFL Draft, former general manager John Dorsey’s first ever attempt at putting together a draft class of his own. If you remember, 2013 was a generally horrible year in terms of overall prospects, so even the first overall choice, which the Chiefs had, ended up being a left tackle in Eric Fisher instead of a franchise quarterback. Fortunately, Dorsey knew what he was doing because every QB in that class has gone on to fail at the pro level.

Johnson lasted only a single season (and a few extra months) with the Chiefs, as he was signed away from their practice squad by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2014. Johnson only had 7 tackles in 6 games with the Chiefs, all during his rookie campaign. He played in 11 games, starting 2, for the Bengals in 2014, but he was released the following preseason after failing to make the team’s active roster. He also signed for a short stint with the Washington Redskins before a final gasp of his career came with the New York Giants. He played a single game for them late in the 2015 regular season.