When Jay-Z brought a few athletes into his close-knit inner circle, one of them was former NFL running back Larry Johnson. They were as close as brothers. Whenever you saw Jay-Z, Larry was never far behind. They were like a real-life Bonnie and Clyde. Their friendship eventually grew into a business partnership, but as their lives took different paths, Jay-Z turned his back on his once loyal right-hand man.
Hitting rock bottom meant almost losing custody of his daughter, not coming home at night, and feeling completely lost. It was like life was dragging him along, and he was just hoping someone would put him out of his misery.
This one starts on November 19, 1979, when Larry was born to Christine and Larry Senior in Maryland. His dad was a beloved high school football coach. Growing up, Larry played youth football with one goal in mind: to make his dad proud.
When he was nine, during a kickoff return, Larry sprinted towards the sideline. Out of nowhere, an opponent crashed into him, spinning his helmet sideways. Larry saw a flash of white light, and then everything went blank. He was laid out on the field. They tried to get him back in the game, but Larry refused. He later told the Washington Post that when he got up, he felt dizzy and had no idea where he was. He spent the rest of the game on the sidelines with a pounding headache. Back then, there were no protocols to ensure he was okay, but Larry wasn’t worried about that. All he could think about was how he had let his dad down and feared people would think he was too soft.
“I didn’t know how to redeem myself,” he told the Post. Looking back, Larry suspects that was the first of many concussions, though it was never officially diagnosed. Determined to prove his toughness, he spent hours in his family’s basement studying NFL footage. By the time he entered middle school, he took things a step further. He researched his opponents to find out which ones came from broken homes and used that information to taunt them on the field, getting into their heads to throw them off their game.
Larry wasn’t the best player on the field, but his eagerness to learn everything about the game made him a valuable asset to the team.
Eventually, the coaches started noticing his behavior issues. The Washington Post reported that he would blow up at his coaches whenever he was benched, and if a teammate or opponent challenged him, he’d retaliate with cheap shots. He got a scholarship to Penn State, where his dad was an assistant football coach. During his college years, Larry often found himself in the back seat of police cars and was frequently called into disciplinary meetings with the coaching staff. He wanted to make his dad proud, but his need to prove his toughness led to fights with both men and women. According to the Washington Post, Larry began experiencing depression in college but didn’t seek treatment. Instead, he turned to alcohol, which only made things worse.
He was the 27th pick in the 2003 NFL draft and joined the Kansas City Chiefs. That same year, he faced charges of aggravated assault and misdemeanor battery after allegedly brandishing a weapon during an argument with a former girlfriend. The charges were dropped after he completed a domestic violence diversion program.
In the 2005 off-season, Larry grew increasingly frustrated with his endorsement deal with Nike. He wanted to model for them, but they weren’t featuring him in their ads and only gave him a thousand-dollar spending limit at their stores. Fed up, he ended his contract with Nike and signed with Team Rock, the parent company of Jay-Z’s Rocawear apparel line at the time. Larry was the first athlete to join Team Rock, and they immediately featured him in a full-page ad in Men’s Fitness magazine. More national ads soon followed, and Team Rock even planned to put Larry in music videos.
Larry began spending more time with Jay-Z, and they were frequently photographed together in various cities, partying at nightclubs and attending red carpet events. Larry told a Kansas City newspaper that Jay-Z kept a small group of confidants that included him and LeBron James. “It’s a real tight group,” Larry said. “It goes beyond me just wearing clothes. We’ve become friends now.” Inspired by Jay-Z’s business sense, Larry decided that his ultimate goal was to create his own line of clothing and accessories.
Larry had big dreams. He wanted to start a marketing business for musicians and sports figures and maybe even open a chain of jazz clubs across the U.S. By 2007, at 27, Larry had secured a five-year extension with the Chiefs worth about $43.2 million. But despite the cash flow, strange rumors began to circulate.
An anonymous woman working at Trump Tower claimed on a gossip website that Jay-Z and Larry co-owned an apartment in the building and even lived together. She also mentioned that despite Jay-Z’s long-term relationship with Beyoncé, she had never seen Beyoncé there. Considering Larry and Jay-Z’s status as successful public figures, many dismissed the rumor as ridiculous. Why would two millionaires need to share an apartment?
However, sports writer Paul Domowitch from Philly confirmed the rumors in an article. According to another blog, Paul wrote, “Johnson, who owns a home in New York with rapper Jay-Z, showed up in Kansas City Sunday for the first time since the team began its voluntary workouts.” In 2007, Larry played Fantasia Barrino’s love interest in her music video for “When I See You.” Larry later revealed to a Kansas City news outlet that Jay-Z had scolded him after the video shoot. Jay-Z reportedly said, “The less you do, the more people will be interested in you. The more you do, you water down your value.” On the flip side, Jay-Z allowed Larry to appear in his “Rock Boys” music video.
In 2008, after nearly a decade of dating, Beyoncé and Jay-Z got married. While Jay-Z was enjoying married life, Larry’s life started to spiral out of control.
Some nights, he would shoot guns into strangers’ yards or pick fights just to show how tough he was. He had an “it’s me against the world” attitude. His aggression made him a football highlight, but he couldn’t switch it off when he was off the field. The same year Beyoncé and Jay-Z got married, Larry was accused of pushing a woman’s head at a nightclub. A few months later, he was accused of spitting his drink on a woman and threatening to kill her boyfriend. In 2009, he was sentenced to two years’ probation after pleading guilty to two separate charges involving two women at Kansas City nightclubs. That same year, he was banned from all Kansas City Chiefs activities for using a gay slur on Twitter and making rude comments about the head coach. On the day he was supposed to return from another suspension in 2009, the Chiefs cut him from the team. He briefly joined the Cincinnati Bengals before signing a three-year, $12 million contract with the Washington Redskins in 2010. Unfortunately, Larry was released from the Redskins just six months later. Around 2010, he welcomed a daughter named Jalen. He told the Washington Post, “My greatest fear is my daughter falling in love with somebody like me.”
That same year, he was seen vacationing with R&B singer Maya, famous for her collaboration with Jay-Z on the “Best of Me” remix. Although they didn’t officially confirm their relationship, Larry later admitted to the Washington Post that he was struggling with mental health issues during their time together, and Maya had once prevented him from jumping out of a window. In 2011, Larry joined the Miami Dolphins but was cut from the roster within two weeks and hasn’t played in an NFL game since.
In October 2012, Larry was arrested on the Las Vegas Strip after an ex-girlfriend accused him of choking her until she lost consciousness. The felony charges were dropped, and he avoided severe punishment. With no NFL prospects, Larry looked for other jobs but faced rejections, including for a job stocking shelves at a store. He ended up selling bootleg makeup kits on South Beach. By October 2013, according to TMZ, he was working as a DJ at a Miami gentlemen’s club called Tutsie’s Cabaret. When not working, he was frequently seen binge drinking tequila at nightclubs, spending up to fifty thousand dollars a night trying to impress strangers.
His drinking worsened his problems, leading to erratic behavior, such as late-night calls to his parents filled with cursing and strange accusations. His brother told the Washington Post he had stopped checking his phone at night, resigned to the possibility of waking up one day to news of Larry’s death. Larry’s reckless behavior continued, including an incident in October 2014 when he was jailed for allegedly cutting a man with a broken bottle at a Miami hotel.
As Larry’s personal struggles intensified, people in his life began to distance themselves. Even Jay-Z reportedly told him, “Poof, vamoose, son of a…”
Larry later confided to the Washington Post that Jay-Z had sent him an email severing their ties because of Larry’s ongoing legal issues. In a 2017 interview, Larry shared his belief that he suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disorder common among athletes who experience repeated head injuries, such as boxers and football players. CTE, which can only be confirmed posthumously, has been identified in the brains of over 300 former NFL players.
Former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, known for his erratic and explosive behavior, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2015 and committed suicide in his prison cell in 2017. Following his death, Boston researchers confirmed that the 27-year-old had the most severe case of CTE they had ever seen in someone younger than 46.
Larry described his own symptoms, which include anxiety, paranoia, headaches triggered by bright lights or noise, and occasional self-destructive impulses. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and suffers from memory loss. Larry recounted how the passenger side mirror on his car was smashed and there were dents all over the rear, yet he couldn’t remember what caused the damage. He also admitted there are two entire NFL seasons he can’t recall, relying on video compilations and highlights to remember his glory days. His biggest fear is that by the time he turns 50, he won’t even remember his own name.
Larry has become increasingly reclusive, often turning down invitations from friends. “You kind of create your own prison,” he told the Washington Post. “I barricaded myself with things I could handle.” His daughter has been a blessing in his life, providing him with a reason to stay grounded. When she’s with her mother, however, Larry is more likely to drink and fall into a dark place.
In 2019, Larry decided to clear up some rumors. In an Instagram post, he clarified that he was never Jay-Z’s roommate and that during the time people claimed they were living together in Trump Tower, he was actually staying with a girlfriend. He added that he couldn’t care less about his friendship with Jay-Z, saying, “I pity them.”
In November 2022, Larry made a controversial appearance on Jason Whitlock’s YouTube channel, claiming that Beyoncé and Jay-Z worship the devil and are controlled by Satanism. He insisted that they do not serve the same God he does, which makes them his enemies because he stands for a completely different truth.
After RogNation signed Megan Thee Stallion, she tweeted about how losing her mother to cancer motivated her to keep chasing her dreams. Larry reacted by accusing Megan of selling her mother’s soul for her success. When people online suggested that Larry was just jealous because he couldn’t be with Megan, he posted a list of women he claimed to have been with, including Julissa, Chili from TLC, Draya, and Maya.
Currently, Larry has spent most of his money but still has enough to get by and to pay for his daughter’s college tuition. He sold his share in a South Beach nightclub, cut back on drinking, and moved from a trendy high-rise in Miami to a quiet townhouse in Fort Lauderdale. He also got rid of his weapons and now works at a non-profit that uses the arts to mentor disadvantaged children. Despite these changes, Larry quit therapy and stopped taking his medication, believing he is strong enough to manage his impulses on his own.
NFL players often face increased risks of mental health issues due to repeated head injuries. The sport’s culture can sometimes discourage seeking help for these issues. Fortunately, support is available for those who need it.