KNOXVILLE — A day after a Knox County grand jury issued two indictments for aggravated rape, former University of Tennessee linebacker A.J. Johnson, a suspect in the case, lost his invitation to this month's NFL Combine.
The league has withdrawn Johnson's invitation to the pre-draft workout, NFL spokesman Michael Signora said Friday.
Johnson's former teammate, defensive back Michael Williams, was indicted on two counts of aggravated rape Thursday. He is also named in the five-page presentment as having aided and abetted another individual, who has also been indicted on two counts of aggravated rape.
The other individual's name is redacted in the presentment. As of Friday afternoon, Johnson, who graduated from the school in December, had not been formally booked on any charges.
Williams, who is enrolled at the university this term, remains suspended indefinitely from the football team. He and Johnson were named as suspects in an alleged rape that occurred on Nov. 16, hours after the football team defeated Kentucky, at Johnson's off-campus apartment. On Nov. 17, the pair was suspended indefinitely from team activities.
Attorneys for both Johnson and Williams have maintained their clients' innocence.
The state's witness list for the grand jury proceedings, which took place this week and ended in the indictments, included many individuals associated with the University of Tennessee's athletics department.
The alleged victim, herself a Tennessee athlete at the time of the alleged rape, was on the state's witness list, as were nine of her teammates and their coach.
The state also subpoenaed the recording of a 911 call made at 3 a.m. the morning of Nov. 16, phone logs for three phone lines for Nov. 15-17 and records from the University of Tennessee Medical Center, where the alleged victim was transported to the hospital in the hours following the alleged rape.
An employee of the Sexual Assault Center of East Tennessee was also listed, and the center's records on the alleged victim were subpoenaed. The state also listed David Rausch, chief of the Knoxville Police Department, and two forensic technicians with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation's crime lab.
Two former Tennessee football players, Drae Bowles and D'Andre Payne, were also on the witness list for the grand jury proceedings. Bowles and Payne were on the roster at the time of the alleged rape, but both have since transferred out of the university. Bowles' father was also on the witness list.
Tennessee football coach Butch Jones adamantly shot down a question Friday as to whether there was a connection between the two players' transfers and their inclusion on the state's witness list.
"That had absolutely nothing to do with it," Jones said.
Johnson was thought to be a middle-round draft prospect before the alleged rape. One longtime NFL insider mused on Twitter that the revocation of a NFL Combine invitation is rare.
"By my memory, this is a 1st," wrote Gil Brandt, who for nearly 30 years worked as vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys and now works as an analyst for the league's official website.
Follow Matt Slovin on Twitter @MattSlovin. Jim Wyatt and Anita Wadhwani contributed to this report.
