Johnny Rutledge

Linebacker

Rutledge spent a lot of time reading children’s books. With four young girls, there were bedtime stories and naptime stories and just plain old stories to fill the day.

He read and read and then, one day, he wrote.

“I kept reading these books to my four girls and I thought to myself, ‘I can do this. I know what I want to say to them,’ ” Rutledge said. “So I decided to write one.”

Rutledge has published a series of books for children, including his latest “Math and Football.”

“The books really focus on fatherhood and life’s lessons,” he said.

The former linebacker lives in Atlanta where he is an assistant coach and academics coach at North Atlanta High.

He spent five seasons in the NFL with the Cardinals and Broncos and returned to UF in 2007 before settling in Atlanta.