Derrick Johnson laments not having chance to play with Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes

Last month, linebacker Derrick Johnson said goodbye to the NFL, signing a one-day contract with the Chiefs and retiring.

Johnson was a fan favorite in his 13 seasons with the Chiefs, and he was selected for the Pro Bowl four times and is the franchise leader in tackles (1,262). He also had 14 interceptions and four touchdowns, but there is one stat he regrets.

Zero Super Bowl appearances.

Johnson talked about that Monday on the 3-Point Stance podcast, which is hosted by former Chiefs defensive end Mike DeVito, Aaron Jackson and Sterling Pingree.

DeVito, the former Chiefs defensive end, was teammates with Johnson from 2013-15. They both missed almost the entire 2014 season after suffering Achilles’ injuries in the season opener. Nevertheless, the Chiefs defense finished second in points allowed that year.

The Chiefs defense was fifth in points allowed in 2013 and third in 2015.

DeVito asked Johnson how he would have liked to play with current Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

“Nothing against the offenses that we had because we had great offenses, but our defenses from 2013-2016, 2017 with Pat Mahomes,” DeVito said. “How many Super Bowls do we go to?

Johnson responded: “You take the kid Pat Mahomes, second year and he’s doing all this stuff. I’m like, I’ve been at the Chiefs for 13 years and I’ve never sniffed out a quarterback even close to what Pat Mahomes is doing this early in his career. It just tells you that everything is timing.”

DeVito noted the Chiefs, who had one of the NFL’s worst defenses, were just one play from the Super Bowl in January’s AFC Championship Game loss to the Patriots. He asked Johnson what it would have been like if the Chiefs had their defense from five years ago for that game at Arrowhead Stadium.

“Oh my goodness, we would be licking our chops,” Johnson said. “That would have been a game to see. Now, Tom (Brady) would have had his fair share, but at the same time, I don’t think he would have (won) in there in Arrowhead with Pat Mahomes as the quarterback and the defense that we had? No sir, that would definitely, we’d be going to the Super Bowl with that.”

The hosts noted that Johnson played for a mixed bag of coaches while in the NFL: Dick Vermeil, Herm Edwards, Todd Haley, Romeo Crennel, Andy Reid and Jon Gruden (last year with Oakland).

Johnson recounted how Reid reacted to the Chiefs’ losing five straight games in the 2015 season when their record dropped to 1-5.

“We came into the meeting room after losing our fifth game, we’re 1-5,” Johnson recalled. “I’m like, ah, man, I’ve seen this before. He’s about to start calling people out. Here it goes. You know what? He came in and said, ‘Hey guys we’re not far off. Keep working, keep believing.’ I’m looking around like, OK. Man, he gave us an extra boost and we won 9, 10 games after that in a row after that speech, so that was a big deal.”

The Chiefs won their final 10 games of the regular season and their first playoff game at Houston in 2015 before losing at New England.

When talking about Haley, Johnson chuckled slightly, but then noted how Haley helped his career in a big way.

“Todd Haley benched me in 2009 and right or wrong, sometimes God allows things to happen to push us toward something great,” Johnson said. “You know what? I’d never been to the Pro Bowl or All-Pro status. Every year after that season I got benched, I was a Pro Bowl player or some kind of All-Pro status. That just lets you know that life is 10 percent what happens to you and 90 percent how you respond to it. In that sense, it was a blessing for me to go through that, so thank Todd Haley for that.”

You can listen to more of what Johnson had to say here.

This story was originally published June 4, 2019 at 12:59 PM.