BIOGRAPHY
Diontae Johnson was born on July 5th, 1996, in Ruskin, Florida. He plays wide receiver in the NFL.
In his early years, Johnson attended Earl J. Lennard High School where he played wide receiver and quarterback. As a junior as a quarterback, he threw for 430 yards and three TDs, while in his junior year, he threw for 988 yards and seven TDs, and also ran for 121 yards. In his senior year, Johnson made the honor roll. He played as a wide receiver in his final year and caught 35 passes for 1,017 yards and nine touchdowns, and also scored touchdowns by kickoff returns with 3, punt returns with 2 and interception returns with 1. After he finished high school, Johnson committed to the University of Toledo where as a freshman in 2015, he played in 11 games, recording 14 receptions for 237 yards and three TDs. He also returned 32 kickoffs for an average of 22.8 yards per return. As a redshirted sophomore in 2017, Johnson was named first-team All-MAC as a wide receiver and punt returner and was named second-team All-MAC as a kickoff returner. He had 74 receptions for a school-record 1,278 yards and 13 touchdowns and also tallied 683 kickoff return yards. Johnson finished the season ranked second in the MAC in receiving touchdowns and yards, third in receptions; ended the year tied for fourth in the country in receiving touchdowns. He also went over 1,000-yard receiving mark in the Ohio game, becoming just the seventh Rocket to crack the 1,000-yard mark and was named to Biletnikoff Award watch list. In his junior season in 2018, Johnson was the MAC Special Teams Player of the Year, a first-Team All-MAC as a wide receiver and punt returner and was a second-Team All-MAC as a kickoff returner. He led the team with 43 receptions and 663 receiving yards, 7 touchdown receptions, one punt return TD, and one TD off a kickoff return. Johnson had six games with at least four receptions and his 23 career TD receptions ranked fifth all-time at UT. Johnson was also named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against Miami and by the end of the season, he was on the watch lists for Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, Biletnikoff Award as a receiver and Horning Award as a most versatile.
After he graduated from college, Johnson entered the 2019 NFL Draft where he was selected in the third round by the Pittsburgh Steelers. He made his NFL debut in Week 1 against the New England Patriots where he recorded 3 receptions for 25 yards in the 33-3 loss, and in Week 5 against the San Francisco 49ers, Johnson caught three passes for 52 yards and his first career touchdown as the Steelers lost 24-20. Overall, Johnson finished the 2019 season with 59 receptions for 680 receiving yards and five receiving touchdowns. In his 2020 season, he had 923 yards on 88 receptions.
On August 4, 2022, Diontae Johnson signed a two-year extension with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
