Free-agent running back Chris Johnson faces a misdemeanor battery charge stemming from an incident on April 9 in Tampa, Florida, according to online court records.
WFTS-TV reported that Johnson's attorney entered a not guilty plea on Johnson's behalf in court on Thursday.
Johnson allegedly assaulted a valet at a club in Tampa, according to a police report cited by WFTS TV. The valet had a bloody nose and cut lip after the altercation, according to the police report. The running back, who played in four games for the Arizona Cardinals last season, was identified by the owner of the club and separately picked out of a lineup by the alleged victim.
Johnson, 32, who is from Orlando, Florida, was released by the Cardinals in September last season. He told ESPN's Josina Anderson in March that he isn't ready to retire.
In March 2015, he was shot in the shoulder in Orlando in an early-morning drive-by shooting that left one person dead. He returned to play later that year, playing 11 games with the Arizona Cardinals and rushing for 814 yards and three touchdowns before a fractured tibia ended his season. A groin injury ended his season early in 2016 as the Cardinals placed him on injured reserve after four games.
He earned the nickname CJ2K after a 2009 season in which he led the NFL in rushing with 2,006 yards and broke the NFL's single-season record for yards from scrimmage (2,509) while with the Tennessee Titans.
