With Ohio State in championship game, Central's Johnson dealing with career-ending injury
The news came to Trey Johnson on a day normally reserved for celebration, his 20th birthday.
Called into a Nov. 9 meeting with Ohio State doctors, the former Central Gwinnett linebacker got the results of scans on his troublesome right knee. The verdict — he would never play football for Ohio State, or anyone else, again.
“Yeah, it was bad news,” said Johnson, forced into a spectator role for Monday’s College Football Playoff National Championship against Oregon in Arlington, Texas. “But I already knew there was something up with my knee. It’s not one of those things you don’t know. I knew it was something. I was just hoping it was something that could heal.”
The career-ending issue came down to a diagnosis of arthritis in Johnson’s right knee, which initially caused him problems when he played through a torn meniscus as a senior at Central. He had his first surgery on the knee after his final high school season and returned in time to play in the Under Armour All-American Game, but said he’s torn meniscus and had his right knee cleaned out twice since he’s been at Ohio State.
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