[Big 12 Sports] Cat Osterman (Texas) and Derrick Johnson (Texas) have been named Big 12 Conference Athletes of the Year, the league office announced Wednesday.
Johnson was a senior linebacker on Texas’ 2004 football squad. He was honored with the 2004 Nagurski Trophy as the nation’s top defensive player and the 2004 Butkus Award as college football’s top linebacker while leading the Longhorns to an 11-1 record and Rose Bowl championship. He was a unanimous consensus first team All-American this past season and named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year. He was selected to the All-Big 12 Conference first team for the third time in 2004 (2002, 03).
The Waco, Texas, native was a finalist for the 2004 Bednarik Award (nation’s top defensive player), Lombardi Award (nation’s top lineman) and Lott Trophy (defensive player of the year). Johnson finished 12th in this past year’s Heisman Trophy balloting and was the only defensive player listed among the 10 finalists for the 2004 Walter Camp Player of the Year Award. He was Texas’ co-captain, co-MVP and won the team’s Joe Jamail Leadership Award.
Johnson was selected with the 15th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
