Former Bengals โคStar Running Back Rudi Johnson Dies at 45
Cincinnati,โฃ OH – Former Cincinnati Bengals running back Rudi johnson has died at the age โคof 45, the teamโ confirmed Wednesday. While โฃthe Bengals did not release details surrounding โคhis โdeath, the Miami-Dade โฃSheriff’sโ Office is investigating, with initial indications pointingโ to suicide, according to Detective Josephโค Peguero, whoโค told NBC News that no foulโข play is suspected.
Teamโ president Mikeโข brown remembered Johnson as a “fine person” and a “dearโ friend” in a statement. Johnson’s agent, Peter Schaffer, expressedโค hope โฃthat his death would spur further research into Chronic traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
“These tragic circumstances must โขalso serve as โคa call to action,” Schafferโ said in โa statement to NBC News.โ “The NFL and the scientific community must do more – more research into โคCTE, more innovation intoโฃ how โฃwe canโค treat it, prevent it, and provide support โคto those living with it. Players past,present,and future deserve nothing less.”
While CTE can only be definitively diagnosed post-mortem, it is currently โunconfirmed whether Johnson had the degenerative disease.
Johnson was a fourth-round selection by the Bengals in โคthe 2001 NFL Draft. After spending hisโฃ first two seasons primarily as a backup, injuries to starter Corey Dillon thrust him into a larger role in 2003, where he rushed for 957 yards โandโ nine touchdowns onโค 215โข attempts.
Following Dillon’s trade, Johnson became the starting running back โin 2004 and โคenjoyedโ three highly productiveโข seasons. From 2004-2006, he averaged 1,407โ rushing yards and 12 touchdowns, earning his only Pro bowl selection in 2004. He โคset a franchise record โthatโ year with 1,454 rushing yards, aโข mark he surpassed in 2005โข with 1,458โฃ yards -โข a record that โstill stands with the bengals.
The 2005 season โขsaw the Bengals โฃreach the playoffs, โwhere they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the wild-card round. Johnson scored a touchdown in the defeat.
Injuries hampered Johnson in 2007, limiting him to 11 games and 497 rushing yards. He was released by the Bengals โduring training camp in 2008 and finished his NFL careerโฃ with the Detroit Lions, where he had โ76 rushing attempts.
Johnson returnedโ to Paulโ Brown Stadium in 2016 for the team’s Legends โWeekend, marking his first visit since his release.Former teammate Chad Johnson paid tribute to the running back on X (formerly Twitter) on tuesday. Both players were drafted by the Bengals in 2001 โข- Rudi in theโ fourth round and Chad in the second.