One-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Diontae Johnson had an interesting season last year. He started out as a member of the Carolina Panthers after being traded from the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, as the Panthers continued to lose, the team traded Johnson, who was set to become a free agent at the end of the year, to another team that had a chance to make the playoffs.
Johnson ended up with the Baltimore Ravens, who traded a fifth-round pick in exchange for Johnson plus a sixth-round selection. Yet, he’d play just four games in Baltimore, catching a single pass for six yards.
He would have been more involved, but Johnson refused to enter their Week 13 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles. Thus, the Ravens suspended Johnson for a game, and he was later released from the team. While the Houston Texans later signed Johnson, fans were still curious to learn more about what happened with his stint in Baltimore.
Now a member of the Cleveland Browns, which will be his third AFC North team, Johnson is opening up about what went wrong with the Ravens. He apparently refused to enter the game for the Ravens when it was just 41 degrees out, which Johnson described as “ice cold.”
“I wasn’t getting into no run plays, no passing plays or nothing. It was cold. End of the third going into the fourth, they were like, ‘Tae, we need you’ I was like, ‘Nah, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me. Like, my legs are already ice cold, and I didn’t wanna go out there and put bad stuff on film. It’s not like I didn’t wanna go into the game, but leading up to this point, I had been through so much… I told them l’m not finna go in, so I just sat on the bench, and that’s when they suspended me.”
Diontae Johnson on why he didn’t play in Ravens’ game
Johnson has had to play in many other games that were much colder than it was when he refused to play. Yet, as he mentioned, Johnson wasn’t exactly warmed up or ready to go by the time the fourth quarter rolled around. Though, players are routinely asked to enter the game late in the contest when they’re not exactly warmed up either.
Either way, Johnson is ready to put it all behind him, and now he’ll get to face his former team twice this season as the Browns face the Ravens in Week 2 and Week 11. We’ll see if either side has a little something extra up their sleeves as the heated rivalry continues for it’s latest chapter.
Related: Notable Cleveland Browns player reveals internal favorite to be starting QB, and it’s not Joe Flacco or Shedeur Sanders
Sports fan since birth. I am also passionate about cars, music, and anything funny. Minnesotan, born and raised. Maybe ... More about Andrew Buller-Russ