The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Monday that LB Derrick Johnson was named the winner of the club’s Derrick Thomas Award and LB Justin Houston earned the team’s Mack Lee Hill Award. Both honors were voted on by Chiefs players and will officially be presented at the 42nd Annual 101 Banquet on March 3.
As a tribute to the late Derrick Thomas, the Chiefs annual Most Valuable Player Award was renamed in his honor following his death in February of 2000. The Mack Lee Hill Award is presented each year to the Chiefs rookie or first-year player who best exemplifies the spirit of the late Mack Lee Hill, who passed away during his second season with the Chiefs in ’65.
Johnson (6-3, 242) established a Chiefs single-season record with 179 tackles (131 solo) and was selected to his first career Pro Bowl. He is the first Chiefs linebacker elected to the Pro Bowl since Thomas following the ’97 season. Johnson also recorded 11 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks (-10.0 yards), two interceptions, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, 11 QB pressures and five passes defensed.
The seventh-year veteran registered double-digit tackle totals in 10 contests, including three 16-tackle performances. Johnson was named the AFC Defensive Player of the Week following his Week 8 performance vs. San Diego (10/31), when he notched 16 tackles (15 solo), a sack (-7.0 yards), a tackle for loss and an interception on Monday Night Football. He has 326 tackles over the last two seasons, the most tackles in consecutive seasons in franchise history.
A first-round draft pick (15th overall) out of the University of Texas in 2005, Johnson has played in 106 games (93 starts) for the Chiefs. He has recorded 750 tackles (572 solo), 16.0 sacks (-111.0 yards), nine interceptions returned for 233 yards with three TDs, 16 forced fumbles, five fumble recoveries, 49 passes defensed and 37 QB pressures. He recently moved into sixth place on the franchise tackle chart.
Houston (6-3, 268) played in all 16 games (10 starts) and registered 70 tackles (63 solo) with 5.5 sacks (-27.5 yards), 12 tackles for loss, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, four passes defensed and 12 QB pressures. His 5.5 sacks tied for the fifth-highest total by a rookie in Chiefs history. He also recorded six special teams tackles.
In a Week 13 win at Chicago (12/4), Houston registered 10 solo tackles and tied a Chiefs rookie record with 3.0 sacks (-15.0 yards) to go along with a forced fumble, three QB pressures and a pass defensed. During a Week 17 victory at Denver (1/1), he set a career high with 11 tackles and had 1.5 sacks (-5.5 yards), two tackles for loss, a fumble recovery and four QB pressures. Over the final six weeks of the season, Houston recorded 38 tackles (36 solo), eight tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks (-27.5 yards), a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, eight QB pressures and three passes defensed.
A third-round pick (70th overall) out of Georgia in 2011, Houston recorded 125 tackles (70 solo), 20.0 sacks (-134.0 yards) and 38 tackles for loss (168.0 yards) during his collegiate career. He was an all-state honorable mention performer at Statesboro High School in Statesboro, Ga.
— Chiefs Public Relations —