You know how it goes. Social media can be a brutal place at times, especially for athletes. When you are good, fans pour in their support in huge numbers. But when you are not meeting their expectations, they can be pretty vocal. And sometimes, those criticisms could even cross a line, slipping into negativity. That’s what happened with the Chiefs’ former seventh-round pick, Nazeeh Johnson. His re-signing with the Chiefs got such a brutal reaction that his mom had to step in to protect his son’s image.

Here’s how everything started. When a Chiefs fan page, Arrowhead Live, urged the Chiefs Kingdom to stop their negativity surrounding Johnson’s signing. Mama Johnson jumped in with her fiery response, “Who cares!! The Chiefs have spoken, and I am loving this!! Keep talking, please. It means, yall paying a lot of attention! We appreciate you.” This was two days earlier, when the Chiefs had just decided to bring back Nazeeh.

Today, Johnson’s mom, Kisha Brown, followed up her previous response covered by TMSPN with another subtle dig. Re-tweeting TMSPN’s article that focused on Brown defending her son, she wrote, “Not that I Clap back! Yes just loving the Energy and the support! It’s about go be a year so stay tuned in❤️🙏🏾.” You know her back-and-forth interaction with Johnson’s haters wasn’t just limited to two or three messages. She kept on standing up to her son’s doubters through multiple messages.

Aiming directly at Johnson’s haters, she posted, “To all the HATERs, thank you for all the support! We appreciate you for making my son work even harder!! Let’s go, Chiefs!” Well, Brown didn’t stop there. She kept on watching the comments roll in and prepared her responses accordingly. When one fan encouraged her to ignore the haters, she politely responded, “Thank you, it’s nothing but love for them too! He’s back—that’s enough to shut them up a little.”

She even graciously accepted all the criticism, saying, “The negativity pushes him harder.” Will it really push him to perform better? I mean, seeing his mom put her bravest effort into defending him. Surely, Johnson wouldn’t want her mom’s fight to end up being futile. Like the Chiefs are also taking a gamble by re-signing him. After his poor 2024 campaign, Nazeeh Johnson needs to start his redemption arc now, or it will be too late.

Andy Reid gives Nazeeh Johnson a lifeline to save his Chiefs chapter

See, coming out of Marshall, the Chiefs made Nazeeh Johnson their 259th pick. Judging by how late he was drafted in 2022, Johnson didn’t make the active roster until September. Although he played 11 games, Nazeeh couldn’t produce as expected. Only racking up 8 total tackles and zero sacks. Going into his sophomore year, Johnson met with his biggest setback yet. Suffering an ACL in the training camp led to him missing the whole 2023 campaign.

However, in his third year with the Chiefs, he did appear in 16 games, totaling 56 tackles, one sack, and three passes defended. But Johnson’s 2024 was pretty underwhelming if you look at some other stats. PFF ranked him 165th out of 222 qualified CBs in the league. He surrendered a league-high 107.7 passer rating whenever targeted in coverage. Opposing teams loved targeting Johnson, as he regularly gave up chunks of yardage with no clear precision.

That’s why the Chiefs Kingdom was seemingly frustrated seeing him getting re-signed. But it seems the Chiefs still have their hand over Johnson’s shoulders. Still only 26, so the Chiefs probably believe he can be a crucial depth player in their secondary. Now, it’s totally up to Johnson whether he can live up to this second chance. Fail, and you will not only disappoint the Chiefs and your mom but also those who supported you. While his haters will end up having the last laugh on him.