Larry Johnson released
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The Kansas City Chiefs said Monday that they have released running back Larry Johnson on the day he was due to come back from his second suspension in a year.
Johnson, who turns 30 on Nov. 19, was only 75 yards away from breaking Priest Holmes’ team rushing record.
‘A part of him is excited and a part of him is very regretful,’ Johnson’s agent, Peter Schaffer, told the Associated Press. “There’s a lot of feelings going on right now. It’s analogous to breaking up with a girlfriend. Maybe you saw it coming, but it still hurts when it happens.”
A No. 1 draft choice out of Penn State in 2003, Johnson was one of the best running backs in the NFL in 2005 and 2006, rushing for more than 1,700 yards in each of those Pro Bowl seasons.
But often angry and sullen, he was dogged by controversy and frequently at odds with coaches and fans. On Oct. 25, in what turned out to be his final episode with the Chiefs, he posted on his Twitter account several insults to fans, questioned Coach Todd Haley’s credentials and used a gay slur.
He repeated the slur the next day to reporters and was suspended for two weeks. At Schaffer’s urging, the Chiefs cut the financial penalty in half, saving him about $315,000.
-- Houston Mitchell