Tennessee football: Former Vols LB AJ Johnson tied to Broncos ascent

Former Tennessee football Volunteers linebacker Alexander “A.J.” Johnson has burst onto the scene as another Vol for the Denver Broncos in recent weeks.

The last time the Denver Broncos were in the playoffs, Tennessee football legend Peyton Manning was leading them to a Super Bowl victory over the Carolina Panthers in what would be Manning’s last game. That was in February of 2016.

AJ Johnson, meanwhile, was over a year into fighting a legal battle that cut short his senior year with the Vols in 2014 and put his NFL career on hold. That issue became part of an overall lawsuit that women’s groups filed against the University of Tennessee the spring following Denver’s Super Bowl win, and it even brought back Peyton Manning’s incident with a trainer in 1996.

In 2016 and 2017, the Broncos didn’t make the playoffs, and Johnson was still fighting his battle. A jury acquitted him within half an hour in 2018, and John Elway brought him on later that year, four years after the issue first arose.

While being more of a wasted roster spot that year, Johnson was almost sent to the Miami Dolphins. But Elway kept him on. And now, that decision has paid off over a quarter of the way into the NFL season.

After an 0-4 record to open this year, Denver gave Johnson his first career start at linebacker against the Los Angeles Chargers. All he did was rack up eight tackles, two pass deflections and an interception, playing a huge role in the team getting a 20-13 win, its first victory of the season.

One week later, Johnson faced the Tennessee Titans. And he came through again with nine tackles, a sack, and an assist on another sack in a 16-0 win. His play resulted in Marcus Mariota, who won the Heisman Johnson’s senior year, being benched.

All of a sudden, with Johnson in the lineup, the Broncos have some newfound life at 2-4. And there’s no doubt that his play has been the connection to the defense coming alive. In fact, it’s provided a spark for the entire team.

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It was clear how elite he was when he played for Tennessee football. He had over 100 tackles in 2012, 2013 and 2014, leading the team the first two years and tying for the lead his senior year despite missing the final three games due to his legal issue. In 2011, as a freshman, he was one tackle short of being the team leader.