The Carolina Panthers announced that defensive end Charles Johnson has been suspended four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancing substances. Johnson, who ranks second all-time among the franchise’s sack leaders, released a statement via the team’s website:
“I accept full responsibility. I have been recovering from back surgery, dealing with the daily grind of football and mistakenly thought this could help. It was an error in judgement on my part.”
“We have a special group here I wanted to be a part of and felt an obligation to do my part by getting back as soon as possible. I have always prided myself on being a person who does things the right way through hard work, dedication and sacrifice.” ”
“I want to apologize to my team, Mr. Richardson and Panthers fans for this mistake. Regretfully I have disappointed people, but I promise to come back ready to redeem myself when this suspension is over.”
The 31-year-old, ten-year veteran had a microdiscectomy in the offseason and was part of a Panthers defensive line rotation that had produced 25 sacks on the season, although Johnson was credited with only 16 combined tackles through eleven games this season. Johnson was on the field for 56.88% of snaps, behind only Mario Addison at the defensive end position.
Johnson said before the season that he contemplated whether he would be able to play football again.
“It went through my mind, I’m definitely not going to lie,” said Johnson during training camp in August. “When you can’t walk, and you can’t feel anything in your leg, you think about all types of stuff. The crazy thing is, there were so many people that came up to me and said they had the same thing done. Especially in the building.”
“They gave me a lot of hope of how they did it, because they had good recoveries from their surgeries.”
Wide reciever Damiere Byrd is expected to take Johnson’s spot on the roster as he returns from injured reserve this week. Johnson is eligible to return to the Panthers after the Panthers play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers December 24th.
