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Eli Drinkwitz sends condolences after passing of former Mizzou, NFL player Demetrious Johnson

ns_headshot_2024-clearby: Nick Schultz12/25/22NickSchultz_7
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Photo by George Rose/Getty Images

Demetrious Johnson, a former Missouri star who played in the NFL for five years in the 1980s, passed away Dec. 24 at age 61. He made quite an impact on the Columbia community, and Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz expressed that as he sent condolences Saturday night.

Johnson played at Mizzou in the early 1980s before embarking on an NFL career, but he made an even bigger impact away from the field. He founded The Demetrious Johnson Foundation and ran the organization for three decades, according to FOX 2. This past Thanksgiving, he helped give out turkeys to people in need.

“My heart is heavy tonight with the passing of Demetrious Johnson. He was a friend, mentor and servant to so many,” Drinkwitz said in a Christmas Eve tweet. “Prayers for his family and loved ones this holiday season. I’m going to miss my friend.”

No cause of death was immediately announced for Johnson, who played for the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins during his NFL career. Recently, he got involved in the NIL space, helping wide receiver Luther Burden raise money for a campaign. Burden arrived at Mizzou as a Five Star Plus+ recruit and was the No. 3 player in the nation from the Class of 2022, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Johnson helped serve as Burden’s agent to organize the Basket of Hope delivery at Shriners Children’s Hospital in St. Louis in September. He also had some high praise for his client in an interview with the Columbia Missourian.

“He is a good dude,” Johnson told the Missourian’s Jack Soble. “He is a freaking good kid. … You don’t find guys like this, man. You find a great athlete who’s an a–hole. That’s what you find, a–holes. And I don’t need to deal with them. This kid right here, man? He’s freaking unbelievable, man. Unbelievable.”