Less than two weeks after signing a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans, Nazeeh Johnson has learned he’ll be suspended for six regular-season games\u00a0as a result of testing positive for substances banned by the National Football League.<\/p>\n
The 28-year-old cornerback \u2014 a Millbrook High School graduate\u00a0\u2014\u00a0said he was took Clomid (clomiphene citrate) to improve his fertility, and that’s what led to his positive drug test. Johnson wanted to have a baby with his wife, Gabrielle.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson said Clomid was recommended to him by a doctor not affiliated with the Kansas City Chiefs, the team he spent the first four years of his NFL career with. Before taking Clomid, Johnson said he checked with a doctor affiliated with the Chiefs to see if it was OK to take it. Johnson said he was told he could.\u00a0However, after Johnson learned he had tested positive for banned substances in March, Johnson said that doctor told him he doesn’t remember having that conversation.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson had an appeal hearing in front of an arbitrator on July 22 in which he sought to have the suspension nullified or reduced. In a phone interview on July 22, Johnson thought the hearing in which he provided a complete medical history went well. But Johnson was told on Wednesday that his appeal was denied.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson will be eligible to return to game action on Oct. 25 in a home game against the Cleveland Browns. Johnson will not be able to practice with the Titans during his six-game suspension, but he will be able to continue playing with the Titans before the regular season starts (the season opener is on Sept. 13). He said two weeks before the suspension ends, he’ll be able to participate in team meetings.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson said teams knew he could be suspended when he visited their facilities this offseason. Prior to signing with the Titans, Johnson worked out for the Philadelphia Eagles (May 4), the New York Giants (May 14), the Chicago Bears (May 19) and the Cleveland Browns (early June). Johnson worked out with Tennessee in mid-June and was scheduled to work out with the Pittsburgh Steelers before signing with the Titans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
One of the websites that describes the benefits of Clomid for men is the Fertility Associates of Memphis, which states: “Clomid is used to boost both the concentration of sperm, as well as improve their movement, when a person has lower sperm metrics.”<\/p>\n
“Me and my wife [were] having complications having a baby, and I learned that I’m infertile,” said Johnson during a phone interview in June. (Johnson found out Gabrielle did become pregnant through in-vitro fertilization within a few days after that June interview.)<\/p>\n
As part of the NFL’s random drug testing policy, Johnson provided urine samples to the NFL on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12. In March, he received a letter alerting him that he had tested positive for banned substances from Dr. John A. Lombardo, an independent administrator for the NFL Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lombardo informed Johnson that on Feb. 11, his urine tested positive for E-clomiphene and its metabolite 4′-hydroxyclomiphene, and on Feb. 12, he tested positive for Clomiphene metabolite 4′-hydroxyclomiphene. Any detectable level of these substances is considered a violation. According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, in men, clomiphene can alter testosterone levels by changing how the brain and glands control hormone production.<\/p>\n
Johnson says his testosterone level was 294 prior to taking Clomid. (The American Urological Association considers anything below 300 to be low. According to Dartmouth Health, in general, adult males have testosterone levels that range from 300 to 1,000 nanograms per deciliter.) Johnson said his level moved to more than 600 after taking it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It’s not like it was over 1,000, where I’d be getting any real benefit from it,” said Johnson in June. “[During my first four years in the NFL], I didn’t need a drug to run a 4.3 [40-yard dash], to jump a 42-inch high vertical, to bench press 225 [pounds] 16 times. I’ve been in the league four years, and I took this test plenty of times [before]. I only [had a positive] on this test because I’m trying to have a kid.”\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
Johnson will become a father and Gabrielle a mother through in-vitro fertilization, which is a type of treatment where eggs are combined with sperm outside of your body in a lab, and the fertilized egg is placed inside the uterus.<\/p>\n
“[Having a child], that’s the main thing I’m taking out of this,” he said. “We did it all because of that. You can’t really be too upset.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
That news was significantly more welcome than the drug test results he received a few months prior.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“It was difficult [to learn that news], because I’m doing all these things to be able to have a child, not to get any advantages over anyone else in the league,” Johnson said. “I think it’s not fair. If I could have a baby normally, I would have never been on these drugs. The league is a league that they push being family-oriented, but then when you do everything to have a family, you get penalized for it.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
During his suspension, Johnson \u2014 who owns a house in Houston \u2014\u00a0plans on working with LJ Performance Training in Houston. Johnson\u00a0first began working with them in February.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n
When Johnson \u2014 who is also a special teams standout \u2014\u00a0does take the field, he’ll look forward to showing what he can do. Just like 2025, Johnson won’t be able to play a full season. But after only participating in the final two games of the 2025 season as a result of a preseason shoulder injury, he has a chance to make a bigger impact in 2026.<\/p>\n
Previously in his regular-season career, Johnson made eight regular-season tackles in 11 games while focusing on special teams as a rookie in 2022; missed the 2023 season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee; then rebounded to make 56 tackles (33 solo) with three tackles for a loss and three passes defensed while playing in 16 games (six starts) in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When interviewed in June, Johnson felt the Titans had shown the most interest in him of the five teams that brought him in for workouts. Tennessee second-year general manager Mike Borgonzi knew Johnson well as the assistant GM for the Chiefs for Johnson’s first three years in the league.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“[Borgonzi] knew what I’m capable of, so he gave me a chance,” Johnson said. “He understands what I’m going through.”<\/p>\n
The Chiefs appeared in the Super Bowl each of Johnson’s first three years in the league, winning the first two years. The Titans, on the other hand, haven’t had a winning season since 2021 and went 3-14 for the second straight year in 2025. Robert Saleh is Tennessee’s new head coach.<\/p>\n
“I feel like this is a great opportunity for me,” said Johnson, who feels training camp has gone well for him since it started on July 29. “I feel like I can bring that vet knowledge and do everything I can to help the team.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Less than two weeks after signing a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans, Nazeeh Johnson has learned he’ll…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":965985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2061],"tags":[11628,7,54011,70286,6,9,526,394,2411,527,54010],"class_list":["post-965984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennessee-titans","tag-eedition","tag-football","tag-high_school","tag-millbrook","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-tennessee","tag-tennessee-titans","tag-tennesseetitans","tag-titans","tag-winchester_star"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117049829850132443","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=965984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/965984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/965985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=965984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=965984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=965984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}