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Former Cincinnati Bengals Star Running Back Rudi Johnson Dies After Battle with Mental Health

Eric V.
Eric V.  |  7:00 AM on September 24, 2025

Former Cincinnati Bengals Pro Bowl running back Rudi Johnson has died. Police determined that Johnson had been battling mental health issues and took his own life.

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Johnson was a standout running back at Auburn and the SEC Player of the Year in 2000. He was subsequently selected by the Bengals in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL draft. He played sparingly in his first two NFL seasons, serving as a backup to four-time Pro Bowl running back Corey Dillon.

Dillon missed most of the 2003 season with injuries, and Johnson took advantage of the opportunity. By the beginning of the 2004 season, Dillon had been traded, and Johnson was named as the starter.

For the next three seasons, Johnson rushed for at least 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns. He was named to the 2004 Pro Bowl.

He would miss significant time due to injuries in the 2007 season, his last with the Bengals. He signed with the Detroit Lions but struggled to regain the power running style that had been his signature in Cincinnati.

He retired after eight seasons in the NFL and finished with 5,979 rushing yards, 49 rushing touchdowns, 676 receiving yards, and two receiving touchdowns. He holds the Bengals' single-season rushing record with 1,459 yards in 2005. The three seasons between 2004 and 2006 each remain in the top ten performances by a Bengals running back in team history.

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Rudi's struggles with mental health and his death by suicide again bring concerns of professional athletes and the long-term effects of head injuries suffered during their careers.

Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) is a type of traumatic brain injury thought to be caused by multiple concussions and other repeated minor head injuries over time. It's a rare and incurable disease that is more common among athletes who play contact sports, like football, and military members exposed to blast injuries. It's believed to cause depression and, in some cases, suicidal ideation.

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From the Mayo Clinic:

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, also known as CTE, is a brain disease likely caused by repeated head injuries. It causes the death of nerve cells in the brain, known as degeneration. CTE gets worse over time. The only way to definitively diagnosis CTE is after death during an autopsy of the brain...

...CTE has been found in the brains of people who played U.S. football and other contact sports, including boxing. It also may occur in military members who were exposed to explosive blasts. Symptoms of CTE are thought to include trouble with thinking and emotions, physical symptoms, and other behaviors. It's thought that symptoms develop years to decades after head trauma occurs.

It's not known if CTE played a role in the passing of Rudi Johnson. It may never be known. What is known is that Rudi Johnson found himself in a very dark place and succumbed to mental illness. His life was lost far too soon.
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Rudi Johson lost his battle with mental illness, but he will always be remembered as one of the best running backs in Cincinnati Bengals history.

Rudi Johnson was 45 years old.