Ezra Johnson

Ezra Johnson (born October 2, 1955 in Shreveport, Louisiana) is a retired American Football defensive end who played for the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Houston Oilers in a fifteen-year career that lasted from 1977 to 1991 in the National Football League (NFL).

Johnson played college football in Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia and was drafted in the first round of the 1977 NFL Draft by the Packers. He was a one time Pro Bowler in 1978 in a season in which he unofficially made 20.5 sacks. He had an official career best of 14.5 quarterback sacks in 1983 along with 107 tackles which is a team record for most by a defensive lineman in a single season. He played in 192 games in his career, making 55.5 quarterback sacks officially (99 with his unofficial totals added).

Johnson was most notable for eating a hot dog on the sidelines during the fourth quarter of a 38–0 Packers' home preseason loss to the Denver Broncos on August 30, 1980. Even though he was merely hungry and not insubordinate, he was fined $1,000 and required by then-general manager/head coach Bart Starr to apologize to his teammates. Dissatisfied that the discipline was too lenient, defensive line coach Fred von Appen resigned in disgust five days after the incident.

Johnson was elected to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in 1997.