Ed Johnson Cut by Colts After Arrest

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The Indianapolis Colts released starting defensive tackle Ed Johnson after he was arrested earlier today on a drug possession charge. Ed was stopped for speeding between midnight and 1 a.m. on I-465 just north of Indianapolis. Police also charged him with possession of marijuana. A disappointed Colts president Bill Polian released the following statement today:

“We will, effective tomorrow, waive defensive tackle Ed Johnson. We consider every violation of a team rule or NFL policy on an individual case-by-case basis. If club discipline is appropriate we consider the past record of the individual involved and the extent to which team rules were violated when imposing penalties. In this particular case, Ed was well aware that his past history required him to be in complete compliance with Club rules. He was repeatedly told this during the off-season. Along with his teammates, he was reminded as recently as yesterday of Coach Dungy’s rules of behavior. Unfortunately, he chose to violate those rules. Given the circumstances surrounding Ed’s original employment with the Colts, we feel in this case that we have no choice but to take this action.”

It’s the right course of action because, obviously, Ed doesn’t “get it”. And now he’s out of a job. You hope an incident like this would set a player straight, but with Ed’s history, it’s doubtful. He was temporarily expelled from Penn State in 2005 for violating the school policy on sexual misconduct and confining another student against that student’s will. He was reinstated in 2006, but later suspended for the Outback Bowl for violating team rules.

The Colts are in trouble defensively. With Ed, they gave up 153 rushing yards to the Chicago Bears in a 29-13 Kickoff Weekend loss. Now they face two teams who are known for their ability to run the football — the Vikings and Jags — back to back. Good luck. They’ll probably have to move defensive end Raheem Brock inside with Keyunta Dawson while Darrell Reid, Eric Foster and Daniel Muir back them up. It’s a list of relative unknowns and probably not a favorable situation for the Colts.

Source: Colts.com