You can forgive yourself for forgetting Buddy Johnson, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been trying to fix their linebackers for so long. A permanent state of rebuild has surrounded the position for the better part of a decade since Ryan Shazier’s injury. Every year, they come up with a new solution, but invariably need a new one a year later.
The Steelers drafted Buddy Johnson in the fourth round in 2021, hoping he could be part of that solution. He only lasted one season, however, failing to make the roster in 2022. Eventually, he found a home with the Dallas Cowboys during the 2023 season. There he remains, sporadically contributing on special teams.
Steelers long snapper Christian Kuntz hasn’t forgotten him, though. Kuntz, after all, is a former linebacker, so he and Johnson may have spent time in the same meeting rooms. The two met up on Sunday when the Cowboys played the Steelers, and not without a chip or two.
“He was playing with some vengeance” against the Steelers, Kuntz said about Johnson on the Christian Kuntz podcast. “And he rushes on punt. Buddy, he was rushing. I’m like, in the middle of the play, ‘Come on, Buddy!’ Me and him were just going at it. After we dapped up, I hugged him, whatever, it was all cool. But he was definitely playing a little pissed off.”
Johnson has played in two games so far this season for the Cowboys over the past two weeks. On Sunday against the Steelers, he played 18 snaps on special teams. He is a four-phase contributor on special teams, playing mostly on kickoffs. But he did log five snaps on the punt return unit against the Steelers, as Kuntz knew all too well.
“They were rushing. And it’s good when a team rushes you and you turn it back and you put good shit on tape. It lessens your chance of getting tested next week,” Kuntz said of the Cowboys’ approach to attacking the Steelers’ punt game.
Buddy Johnson did make one tackle against the Steelers, his first of the season. That came on the opening kickoff to start the third quarter, splitting to tackle Aaron Shampklin at the 28-yard line. Shampklin returned four kickoffs in all, averaging 25.3 yards per return. Neither the Steelers nor Cowboys returned any punts, and Pittsburgh punted five times.
Although he only lasted one season in Pittsburgh, Johnson did log four games with the Steelers. As a rookie in 2021, he played 6 snaps on defense and 59 on special teams. He finished that season with two tackles, both of them on special teams.
