Conference Championship Weekend Picks and Predictions
USA TODAY Sports’ Joe Rivera, Chris Bumbaka and Jarrett Bell break down who they think will earn a ticket to Super Bowl 60.
- Former NFL defensive tackle Kevin Johnson has been found dead at the age of 55 in Los Angeles.
- Police are investigating Johnson’s death as a homicide due to blunt force trauma to the head and stab wounds.
- Johnson was reportedly homeless and living in an encampment, where his body was discovered.
- He played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders during his NFL career in the 1990s.
Kevin Johnson, a former defensive tackle who spent his short NFL career primarily with the Philadelphia Eagles and Oakland Raiders, was found dead in Los Angeles on January 22, according to Newsweek. Johnson was 55 years old.
Police are investigating Johnson’s death as a homicide, according to Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office records. Records list Johnson’s cause of death as “blunt force trauma and stab wounds to the head” and the location of death as a homeless encampment.
“Unfortunately, it appears he was homeless,” Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Lt. Steve de Jong said, according to Newsweek. Apparently he lived there.
USA TODAY Sports has reached out to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for confirmation of Johnson’s death and the department’s homicide investigation.
A native of Los Angeles, Johnson played college football at Los Angeles Harbor College and Texas Southern before being selected by the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 1993 NFL Draft. After the Patriots released Johnson in August of that year, the defensive tackle had brief stints in Minnesota and Oakland as a practice squad member and training camp participant until the Eagles claimed Johnson off waivers in August 1995.
Johnson played two seasons with the Eagles, appearing in 23 regular-season games and starting six of them, recording 54 tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and returned for a touchdown. According to Pro Football Reference and the Philadelphia Inquirer, Johnson appeared in two playoff games in 1995. Philadelphia released Johnson in 1996 after he was suspended for missing practice.
Johnson signed with the Raiders the following April and appeared in 15 games with Oakland, recording seven tackles.
After Johnson was released by the Raiders in 1998, he played four years in the Arena Football League, winning the Arena Bowl in 1998 with the Orlando Predators.
