Kansas City Chiefs: Every First Round Draft Pick Since 2000

EVERY CHIEFS FIRST ROUND PICK – 2003 NFL DRAFT: LARRY JOHNSON

Although he has redeemed himself in the last few years with his appearances on 610 Sports Radio and interacting with Chiefs fans on Twitter, Larry Johnson was not well-liked in Kansas City for a long time despite his success.

Johnson, the team’s 27th overall pick in 2003, was trouble from the moment he got to Kansas City. The Chiefs had swapped picks with the Steelers in that draft and Pittsburgh ended up taking Troy Polamalu with that selection… so that stung for a while.

Larry Johnson went on to have a solid career as a Chief, but his attitude was his downfall. He was brought in because the Chiefs weren’t sure what the future would hold for their star running back Priest Holmes. Holmes had been banged up a lot, so Johnson was thought to be the running back of the future.

Johnson ended his time in KC with 1,375 carries for 6,015 yards and 55 touchdowns. He also had 151 catches for 1,369 yards and six touchdowns through the air. Johnson’s numbers were great, but as I mentioned before, his attitude killed his career.

Johnson got into it with both Dick Vermeil and Todd Haley and we all remember the famous “Take the diapers off” quote from Vermeil in 2004. Johnson had trashed Haley on Twitter (I had no idea it existed in 2009) basically saying the guy knew nothing about football.

Throw all of that in with Johnson’s off-the-field problems (assault charges being a repeated problem) and fans had had just about enough from the running back. The Chiefs ended up cutting him before he could break the team’s all-time rushing record, which was the ultimate middle finger.

Johnson was let go in the middle of the 2009 season. He would play for the Bengals, Redskins, and Dolphins before hanging up the cleats after the 2011 season.

I used to be about as anti-Larry Johnson as one could be, but after hearing his conversations on 610 and seeing his tweets, he actually seems like a cool guy. It’s obvious that he’s grown up and learned from his mistakes and that’s big of him to admit.