In the first round of the draught, the Pittsburgh Steelers chose Charles Johnson from Colorado. When he was 50 years old, he passed away.
As of Wednesday afternoon, no one knew what killed Johnson. Colorado confirmed that at the time of his death, he was working as the assistant athletic director at Heritage High School in Wake Forest, North Carolina.
WNCN-TV in Raleigh says that during a welfare check at a Hampton Inn and Suites on Sunday, police found a dead body in a hotel room. A preliminary investigation found no signs of wrongdoing.
The Steelers selected Johnson with the 17th overall choice in the 1994 NFL Draft. He played for the team for five years, making 247 catches for 3,400 yards and 15 touchdowns. He had his best season with the Steelers in 1996, when he caught 60 passes for a career-high 1,008 yards and three touchdowns.
Johnson also spent two seasons with the Eagles, one season with the Patriots, and another season with the Bills. He was on the New England Patriots team that won the Super Bowl in 2001.
Johnson stood out in his last two years at Colorado, where he played for four years. He has 1,149 receiving yards and five touchdown catches as a junior. As a senior in 1993, he had 1,082 receiving yards and nine touchdown catches.
