Top 10 NFL careers of Tennessee football O-Linemen

Teams played for:

• Cincinnati Bengals, 1968-1979

As Doug Dickey installed his T-formation to move Tennessee football away from the Stone Ages of the single-wing back in 1964, Dewey Warren was the quarterback to bring him into that era. However, Bob Johnson was the center to do it, and he did it to perfection, earning back to back All-American honors in 1966 and 1967 and helping the Vols win an SEC title in 1967.

Johnson’s play made him a highly sought-out center in the 1968 NFL Draft at 6’5″ 262 pounds, and the Cincinnati Bengals took him with the second pick. At the time, the AFL and NFL weren’t fully merged, but Johnson made his mark on the AFL in its next to last season before that merger was complete. He became Cincinnati’s starting center and earned AFL All-Star honors as a rookie.

That was the first of 12 years in which Johnson would be a staple on the Bengals’ offensive line, starting nearly every game in his first 10 years. Cincinnati was an expansion team, and Johnson was its first pick. He also was the longest-lasting original Bengal, finally retiring at the end of 1978. However, he returned in 1979 to handle long snapping duties after an injury to Blair Bush.

Throughout his career, Johnson appeared in 154 games and started in 136 of them. Because of his loyalty to a franchise just getting off the ground, seeing it through its beginning and through the merger in 1970, Johnson’s No. 54 remains the only retired jersey in Bengals franchise history. That alone is a testament to his pro career.