Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Former Browns running back and early round draft pick announces his retirement from NFL

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Brandon Little | Last updated 5/5/24

A former third-round draft pick of the Cleveland Browns is calling it a career in the National Football League.

Rubbing back Duke Johnson took to his Instagram to announce he was hanging up the cleats. Johnson spent eight seasons in the league and four of those seasons were played with the Browns after they drafted him in the third round in the 2015 NFL Draft out of Miami.

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A post shared by Duke Johnson (@dukejohnson__)

Johnson was a multi-purpose back whose best attribute was catching the ball out of the backfield. In 64 games (10 starts), Johnson recorded 1,286 rushing yards and five touchdowns for the Browns. In that same time, Johnson had 2,170 rushing yards and eight touchdowns receiving.

In 2017, Johnson crossed 1,000 yards total with 1,041. Out of the total yards, Johnson had 693 receiving that season.

Following his time with the Browns, Johnson was with the Houston Texans from 2019 to 2020 for two seasons. Johnson ended his career by playing a season for the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills each.

Johnson was quietly one of the better third-down and reserve running backs that the league had to offer during his time in Cleveland.

Now at 30 years old, Johnson gets to step away from football healthy after sitting out the 2023 season. Retiring by your own choice is a win in the NFL with how violent the game is and that is what Johnson did.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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