Sept. 17, 2015; Kansas City, MO; Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson during Week 2’s game at Arrowhead Stadium. (Chris Neal/The Topeka Capital-Journal)
Records were made to be broken and Chiefs inside linebacker Derrick Johnson finally got the one he pursued.
The 11th-year pro entered Monday night’s game against the Green Bay Packers with 955 tackles and needed five tackles to surpass Gary Spani’s club record of 999 tackles.
Johnson, who spent the 2014 season on injured reserve after rupturing an Achilles tendon in the season opener, posted a game-high eight solo tackles against the Packers at Lambeau Field.
He now has 1,003 career tackles, which places him atop the team’s record books in the category.
“First off, when you’re playing you don’t even think about the tackle record for the Chiefs,” Johnson told reporters after the game. “But you know, I’ve been playing a while and having some good luck and I’m very fortunate to have a chance to break it this year staying healthy.”
Johnson, of course, can’t bask in celebration when considering his individual accomplishment is overshadowed by the Packers defeated the Chiefs, 38-28.
The Packers jumped to a 24-7 halftime lead, then went on cruise control in the second half and held off a late Chiefs rally.
“We got in a hole early,” Johnson told reporters. “If you get in a hole early against that kind of team you don’t give yourself a very good chance to win. Even though we battled back at the end, you can’t come out like we did.”
For now, Johnson will deal with the pain of the loss with his teammates as the Chiefs (1-2) look to rebound in Week 4 on the road against the Cincinnati Bengals (3-0).
But his name if now etched in the Chiefs’ record book, and that’s something to not forget about.
“God gets all the glory for helping me get to this point,” Johnson said. “But right now it’s bittersweet.”
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Herbie Teope is the lead Chiefs beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com and The Topeka Capital-Journal. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @HerbieTeope.
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