Johnson leaves Cats
29/10/2009 4:42 PM
Dual VFL premiership winning Geelong defender David Johnson's AFL career is over.
The 28-year-old, who played 79 games for Geelong, has decided he would continue his career off the field.
"When I started out my goal was to just play one game," Johnson said.
"To have been able to play at Geelong for eight years, to play with my best mates and in a great team has exceeded what I could ever have hoped for. The coaches have been great, the club has been outstanding and I finish with no regrets."
Johnson was picked up at No.81 in the 2001 national draft, a year which also brought Gary Ablett, Jimmy Bartel and Steve Johnson to the club.
Injuries curtailed his career early on, but after playing in Geelong's drought-breaking VFL success of 2002, became a regular in the senior team and played in the Cats' 2004 and 2005 finals campaigns.
He also played in the 2006 NAB Cup premiership, before falling out of favour in recent seasons.
Johnson hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in the lead-up to Geelong's Grand Final success in 2007 when he was arrested for his involvement in a nightclub brawl following the VFL side's comprehensive triumph over Coburg.
David joins his brother Mark, who played 208 games for Essendon and Fremantle, in retirement.