Kansas City Chiefs Release Larry Johnson Due To Anti-Gay Tweets

By Associated Press November 9, 2009 1:00 pm

Chiefs Johnson Football
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Larry Johnson’s record-breaking career as a Kansas City running back is over.

The Chiefs confirmed Monday that they had run out of patience with his off-the-field problems and released Johnson the day he was due to come back from his second suspension in a year.

Johnson, who turns 30 on Nov. 19, was just 75 yards away from breaking Priest Holmes’ team rushing record.

The decision by the Chiefs (1-7) was not a surprise.

“A part of him is excited and a part of him is very regretful,” Johnson’s agent, Peter Schaffer, told The Associated Press. “There’s a lot of feelings going on right now. It’s analogous to breaking up with a girlfriend. Maybe you saw it coming, but it still hurts when it happens.”

A No. 1 draft choice out of Penn State in 2003, Johnson was one of the best running backs in the NFL in 2005 and 2006, rushing for more than 1,700 yards in each of those Pro Bowl seasons.

But often angry and sullen, he was dogged by controversy and frequently at odds with coaches and fans. On Oct. 25, in what turned out to be his final episode with the Chiefs, he posted on his Twitter account several insults to fans, questioned coach Todd Haley’s credentials and used a gay slur.

He repeated the slur the next day to reporters and was suspended for two weeks. At Schaffer’s urging, the Chiefs cut the financial penalty in half, saving him about $315,000.

Johnson was the subject of an online petition last week calling on the Chiefs not to let him break the team rushing record. He was never a fan favorite and his apology for the online comments came almost exactly one year after issuing a similar apology for alleged incidents involving women in Kansas City night clubs.

In 2008, then-coach Herm Edwards benched him for three straight games for violating team rules. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell suspended him a fourth game for violating the league’s player conduct policy.

Johnson was later sentenced to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to two counts of disturbing the peace. One woman accused him of throwing a drink on her and another said he had pushed her head at a Kansas City night spot.

A judge suspended the sentence and said he would remove the guilty plea from the public record if Johnson has no further legal problems during probation.

On the field, Johnson has not run with the quickness and strength that characterized his Pro Bowl years since setting an NFL record with 416 rushing attempts in 2006. He set the team single-season rushing record that season with 1,789 yards.

This year, in 132 carries behind inconsistent blocking, he averaged only 2.7 yards per carry. He ends his Chiefs career with 5,996 yards rushing and 55 touchdowns. He also caught 151 passes for 1,369 yards and six TDs.

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  • 11-16-2009 4:30 am

    Here we go again. The glitz and glamor of a pro ball career. We push our young black men to gear up and clash in these coliseums and arenas. We hope for them to make big money and free their families and friends from poverty. We brag about them,”that’s my cousin, my brother, my uncle, my sister, my daughter…, yeah I use to see that ni**ga all the time on the block, at the mall. My momma use to baby sit him when he was a kid.” We live vicariously through them, but we’re not them. We didn’t lift their weights, we didn’t run their miles, we didn’t wake them up for practice, or tell them to watch what they eat. They did that. They put in the hard work. They sacrificed going here and hanging there, to devote more time to their craft. But, still we say we know them. Women wanna date them and have their children, some follow them from city to city. They make it seem as though they keep running into each other by coincidence. People want to fight them, get knocked out, and file liability claims. People hate them and plot against them, they are owned. The life they sought is different now that they have finally arrived. The fun is gone the politics have set in. Old homies poppin’ out the wood works. They wanna hangout, lets go the strip club, let us “make it rain on these *oes!” Young men misguided, owned by people who never touch the field but make more money than they do.
    Why don’t we push our young men and women to own the team, to coach the team, to head media production for the team, or provide sports therapy and medicine for the team. Nah we want them out front, we’re they could be seen, so we could be seen standing next to them, so we could get some pu**y off their fame, and live vicariously through them. They want it too, being misguided by the selfish people around them. Now they’re a public figure and everything they do will be scrutinized like voicing their opinions on Twitter. Feeling constrained, they wild out and find their own way to rebel. They are built up and broken down. We forget them we turn our attention to next sensation, and the sick cyclical bullsh*t continues. So, I’m not surprised by the headlines. Are you? They are bought to entertain the elite. When they are of no use and a threat to sponsorship they are replaced by another dreamer. And the crowd goes wild!

  • 11-12-2009 8:01 pm

    Choclate, im on my blackberry and i cant spell either. But i know what im talkin bout.

    The black woman iz god

  • 11-12-2009 3:25 pm

    Come ON…it’s one thing to type lik dis wen u r txt msg’n 2 save $$, but I’m really starting to think you are alljust THAT f**king illiterate. Grown ass men and women writing like that. Hurts my soul :(

  • 11-12-2009 1:31 am

    Maybe DALLAS will pick him up…and they are full of sh^it. I agree with ya’ll Jeffrey1975,blkman6ft6,thebigblacknewsblog.

  • 11-11-2009 1:10 pm

    The black woman iz god.

    Y in da hell do nagas got sit down and b good lil kneegas jus cuz sum peckerwood is sign the check. Phuk all phagots i hope they all have heart attacks and die

    I bet larry aint the only brotha that aint doing shyt in the league this goddamn whyte man just dont want nobody fukin wit its lovers; the dog and the phagots

    God damn i mean this whyte bytch dont even want a naga to celebrate a touchdown cuz the phunky bytch azzez aint got no SOUL and cant do what we do

    Phuk amerikkka and ever devil azz peckerwood and negropean in it

  • 11-11-2009 2:53 am

    More hypocrisy and bulls**t from the peanut gallery. Black people get mad as hell when we are maligned because of our skin color, but some of us have the nerve to get pissed because someone black got in trouble for doing the same thing to someone else because of their sexual preference. Let me explain it for the slow and conflicted so it makes sense, YOU CAN’T HAVE YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO. IF YOU WANT TO BE TREATED WITH RESPECT YOU MUST TREAT OTHERS WITH RESPECT AS WELL. Get it? Got it? Good. And besides, with his record of problems, this guy was on his way out anyway. He just gave them the leverage they needed to get rid of his ass. Sometimes a person can be their own worst enemy.

  • 11-10-2009 8:02 am

    Aint that punk azz imas working and that bytch azz frazier mutaphuka working

    Dont phuk wit the whyte mans lovers, that dog and that bych azz homo

  • 11-10-2009 8:00 am

    This is exactly wat dumb azz nagas get runnin around talkin about gay is the new black. These bytch azz peckerwoods dont want you f**kin with they homos or dogs. These are the white mans lovers.

    The beast is a beast fuk him and anybody that defend this peckerwood.

    I mean damn there was a time wen punks used to get that azz beat now they run the world OPENLY.

    Watch making of the white man on blackpowercartel.com

  • 11-9-2009 11:48 pm

    Let see if you a black man and want to keep your career dont hollar the “G” word interesting there was a white race car announcer who broadcasted to those attending the race car event that a latino race car driver was out and about somewhere getting a Taco and he gets a week suspenion but brotha tweets on tweeter some bs and his whole fkn life gets fkd up that some bs.

    Better yet, I hope he looks at this as an eye opener and as something positive because I heard that fkn team sucks azz anyways. He’s young he can pick up his balls and start over again sh it he should get investor to start his own team fk working for some slave driving azzho’s

  • 11-9-2009 10:25 pm

    Good luck LJ on finding a new team

  • 11-9-2009 9:36 pm

    “What happened to our constitutional right? Freedom of speech!! Anytime a black person criticizes the gay lifestyle,why is it such a huge blow to his/her career? Whites criticize blacks everyday and what happens to them? Rich or poor,we will always be black and accepted by whites,as long as we are useful,but don’t make a mistake because it will cost us a huge price!!He should be greatful that they released him,maybe he will get picked by a REAL football team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The PATROITS!!”

    LMAO! Here’s what you need to learn… White people are organized and they are relentless when it comes to protesting and being heard. White gays are 3 times more organized than straight whites, and 13 times more relentless! The new generation of blacks are too busy buying s**t they can’t afford and bending over (with no lube) for a dollar, to bother standing up for themselves! :-O I’m glad they sacked his ass. If there is a next time, he’ll learn how to keep his mouth shut.

  • 11-9-2009 6:37 pm

    That’s pathetic and the Chiefs suck c**k anyway.

  • 11-9-2009 5:54 pm

    The Chiefs suck anyway. The Chiefs, Lions, Raiders, Buccaneers, Rams, Browns, and Redskins are all the same (the Titans are just having a horrible season…I’m not a fan, I’m just saying). They should delete those trash teams from the NFL. Especially the Chiefs. I’ve never seen worse football before in my life. Larry Johnson will be better off somewhere else anyway.

  • 11-9-2009 5:30 pm

    I agree @jefffrey and blkman6ft6. The team was already rid of him, they needed a last straw so to speak and Larry handed them one.
    And i still wonder WHY a black person makes a comment about ANYTHING that media finds unappealing and he has to apologize and take it up the azz forever…BUT they let Rush Limbaugh say whatever he wants to say and his ratings are through the roof! No one has gotten him off the air. Why is it we have to tip toe and not hurt the LGBT’s ‘feelings’…no one ever tip toes around when it comes to black people..I dont mean to make this a racial issue…but hey I am black, and my kind have always been under the ‘gun’..

  • 11-9-2009 5:27 pm

    as long as you work for someone and represent their brand then you need to carry yourself in a cerain manner. large corporations spend millions and require their employees to attend diversity, conflilct resoultion, sexual harassement etc training.

  • 11-9-2009 5:12 pm

    People have to learn how to use HATE. Call me Ni$$er 100 times a day. I need a new Boat. Learn how to use it to work for you.

  • 11-9-2009 3:51 pm

    What happened to our constitutional right? Freedom of speech!! Anytime a black person criticizes the gay lifestyle,why is it such a huge blow to his/her career? Whites criticize blacks everyday and what happens to them? Rich or poor,we will always be black and accepted by whites,as long as we are useful,but don’t make a mistake because it will cost us a huge price!!He should be greatful that they released him,maybe he will get picked by a REAL football team!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!The PATROITS!!

  • 11-9-2009 3:16 pm

    Jeffrey1975

    Said everything I was going to say… good shyt!

  • 11-9-2009 2:33 pm

    if the team had a 8-0 record and larry had over 1000 yards he would still be playing on the team they are just useing this to get rid of him thats all they could care less about gay slurs

  • 11-9-2009 2:24 pm

    This situation sucks but when you are in the public and wether you are a celebrity, entertainer,politician, or whatever, you have to talk and act a certain way. He is a very talented ballplayer and I hope he lands on another team. Is it fair, you make the call. I only suggest this, anyone that is in the publics eye hire a publicist or basically have someone on the team to watch what you say and do. It’s sad that as americans, we really can not be the person we fully want to be or voice our opinions without it blowing up. We gotta change.

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