Kansas City Chiefs select Justin Houston Rookie of the Year

Justin Houston, LB, Kansas City Chiefs

A week after earning the first Pro Bowl invitation of his career, Derrick Johnson was recognized by his teammates for outstanding play throughout the 2011 season.
Head coach Romeo Crennel announced during Monday's final team meeting that Johnson had been selected as this season’s Derrick Thomas MVP Award winner. Chiefs players also voted Justin Houston as the team’s Mack Lee Hill Rookie of the Year Award recipient.
“Being in my seventh year, this is a big deal,” Johnson said of the honor. “It’s a player’s award and whenever you have respect from your teammates, that’s all you need.”
Johnson has been a mainstay for the Chiefs defense since he joined the team as a first-round draft pick in 2005, but his seventh NFL season was by far his most productive. Johnson not only established a new franchise single-season tackle record, but also became the unquestioned on-field leader of the Chiefs defense.
His selection as team MVP came as a no-brainer for teammates on both sides of the football.
“He’s the leader of the defense and he’s just so consistent,” said defensive end Glenn Dorsey, who voted for Johnson. “He’s always around the football and plays with a lot of effort. He just pretty much has the mentality of the team.”
Besides leading the team with 179 tackles, Johnson also added 11 tackles for loss, 2.0 sacks, a pair of interceptions, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. His final statistics were impressive, but it was his leadership that impressed teammates most.
“He’s more vocal and he’s owning the leadership of our defense more than any other time since I’ve been here,” Dorsey explained. “He commands the huddle and he had a tremendous year.”
Johnson is the first linebacker to win the Chiefs MVP award since Marvcus Patton did so in 1999.
It’s an award that Johnson felt could have just as easily gone to fellow linebacker Tamba Hali, who Johnson nominated as his choice for the honor.
 “A few people knew they voted for me, so they were looking over at me like I was going to win it,” Johnson said. “I was like, ‘no, it’s probably going to be Tamba.’ Tamba already told me that we’ll be fighting for it again next year.”

For Houston, it was a midseason surge that resonated with teammates most.
After beginning the year as a situational outside linebacker, Houston developed into an every-down player as the season went on. He finished second on the team only to Hali with 5.5 sacks.
A third-round pick out of Georgia, Houston finished his rookie season with 70 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, one forced fumble, a fumble recovery and 12 QB pressures. His 5.5 sacks tied for the fifth-highest total by a rookie in Chiefs history and he also recorded six special teams stops.
Johnson was one of the players who voted Houston for the award.
“It’s just the way that he came on,” Johnson said. “For a guy mid-season, to grow up the way he did was great. I definitely had to put him down.”
Johnson and Houston will officially accept their awards at the 42nd Annual 101 Banquet held March 3rd at the Westin Crown Center.

Derrick Thomas Award
For the past 29 years, the Chiefs have upheld the tradition of selecting the club’s most valuable player. Named in honor of the late Derrick Thomas, the Chiefs custom is especially meaningful for its recipients because it is selected by a vote of its peers. Thomas was the heart and soul of the Kansas City defense from 1989-99 and will always be regarded as one of the best linebackers to ever play the game.

1979	S Gary Barbaro	1996	S Mark Collins
1980	DE Art Still	1997	WR Andre Rison
1981	RB Joe Delaney	1998	G/T Glenn Parker
1982	CB Gary Green	1999	LB Marvcus Patton
1983	QB Bill Kenney	2000	WR Derrick Alexander
1984	DE Art Still	2001	RB Priest Holmes
1985	S Lloyd Burruss	2002	RB Priest Holmes
1986	CB Albert Lewis	2003	QB Trent Green
1987	WR Carlos Carson	2004	QB Trent Green
1988	S Deron Cherry	2005	RB Larry Johnson
1989	RB Christian Okoye	2006	RB Larry Johnson
1990	QB Steve DeBerg	2007	DE Jared Allen
1991	LB Derrick Thomas	2008	TE Tony Gonzalez
1992	DE Neil Smith	2009	RB Jamaal Charles
1993	RB Marcus Allen	2010	RB Jamaal Charles
1994	LB Derrick Thomas	2011	LB Derrick Johnson
1995	RB Marcus Allen

Mack Lee Hill Award
Each year since 1966, Chiefs players have selected a recipient for the Mack Lee Hill Award. It is a tribute to the late Mack Lee Hill, a great running back who played as much with his heart as he did his driving legs. The award is presented annually to the Chiefs rookie or first year player who, as the inscription on the trophy reads - “best exemplifies the spirit of the late Mack Lee Hill … the man with the giant heart and the quiet way.”

1966	RB Mike Garrett	1990	LB Percy Snow
1967	K Jan Stenerud	1991	LB Tracy Simien
1968	RB Robert Holmes	1992	WR Willie Davis
1969	CB Jim Marsalis	1993	G Will Shields
1970	C Jack Rudnay	1994	WR Lake Dawson
1971	WR Elmo Wright	1995	WR Tamarick Vanover
1972	WR Larry Marshall	1996	S Reggie Tongue
1973	TE Gary Butler	1997	TE Tony Gonzalez
1974	RB Woody Green	1998	T Victor Riley
1975	TE Walter White	1999	LB Mike Maslowski
1976	S Gary Barbaro	2000	S Greg Wesley
1977	CB Gary Green	2001	DT Eric Downing
1978	NT Don Parrish	2002	LB Scott Fujita
1979	P Bob Grupp	2003	LB Kawika Mitchell
1980	CB Eric Harris		DE Jimmy Wilkerson
1981	S Lloyd Burruss	2004	DE Jared Allen
1982	C Les Studdard	2005	LB Derrick Johnson
1983	T David Lutz	2006	DE Tamba Hali
1984	CB Kevin Ross	2007	WR Dwayne Bowe
1985	RB Jeff Smith	2008	CB Maurice Leggett
1986	LB Dino Hackett	2009	K Ryan Succop
1987	RB Christian Okoye	2010	S Eric Berry
1988	RB James Saxon	2011	OLB Justin Houston
1989	LB Derrick Thomas By Josh Looney, KC Chiefs Website

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