Anthony Johnson (born January 24, 1993) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is ...

. He played college football at

LSU Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 near ...

. During his

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

career at

O. Perry Walker High School O is the fifteenth letter of the modern Latin alphabet. O may also refer to: Letters * Օ օ, (Unicode: U+0555, U+0585) a letter in the Armenian alphabet * Ο ο, Omicron, (Greek), a letter in the Greek alphabet * O (Cyrillic), a letter of the ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Johnson broke the Louisiana career quarterback sack record with 67.5 sacks.

High school career

Born to Nakisha Johnson and Sherman Patty and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Johnson's family was displaced by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and moved to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, and later Mobile, Alabama, for a period of time. After returning to New Orleans, Johnson attended

, where he was a four-time all-district selection. He broke the Louisiana career sack record with 67.5 sacks during his four-year career. As a senior in 2010, he recorded 129 tackles, 31 tackles for loss, and 17.5 sacks. The team went 9–4 on the season, advancing to the LHSAA Class 4A semifinals, where they lost 36–6 to Franklinton. Both ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgi ...

'' and '' Parade'' named Johnson to their All-American teams. Gatorade named him the Louisiana State Player of the Year, as the first lineman, and only third defender, in the 16 years of the award. One of the most sought after high school players in the country, Johnson was rated as a five-star prospect by every recruiting service.

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

ranked him the No. 1 defensive tackle of his class, and compared him to

Darnell Dockett Darnell Maurice Dockett (born May 27, 1981) is a former American football defensive end who had a ten-season career playing for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cardinals in the third round of th ...

. Johnson chose LSU over offers from almost every major school, including

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County , LargestMetro = Greater Birmingham , area_total_km2 = 135,765 ...

, Oklahoma, and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

College career

Johnson played in thirteen games for LSU in 2011, and was named to both the CBSSports.com and Sporting News Freshman All-American teams. He was named full-time starter in his junior year for the 2013 football season. Johnson declared for the 2014 NFL Draft after his junior season.

Professional career

Miami Dolphins

On May 10, 2014, Johnson signed with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

as an undrafted

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. On December 13, 2014, he was placed on season ending injured reserve after an ankle injury. Johnson did not make the cut for the Dolphins' 2015 season roster.

Washington Redskins

The

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

signed Johnson to their practice squad on November 9, 2015. He signed a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

on January 11, 2016. He was released on May 2.

New England Patriots

Johnson signed with the New England Patriots on May 9, 2016. He was released on September 26, 2016. He was signed to the practice squad two days later. He was promoted back to the active roster on October 15, 2016. On October 24, the Patriots waived Johnson. He was re-signed to the practice squad on October 26, 2016.

New York Jets

On November 9, 2016 Johnson was signed by the New York Jets off the Patriots' practice squad. On August 27, 2017, Johnson was waived/injured by the Jets and placed on injured reserve. He was released on October 17, 2017.

Indianapolis Colts

On November 7, 2017, Johnson was signed to the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad. He was promoted to the active roster on December 5, 2017. On September 1, 2018, Johnson was placed on injured reserve. He was released on September 11, 2018.

Memphis Express

In 2019, Johnson joined the

Memphis Express The Memphis Express was a professional American football franchise based in Memphis, Tennessee. It was a member of the Alliance of American Football (AAF) during its single season in 2019. They played their home games at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stad ...

of the Alliance of American Football. He was placed on injured reserve on March 13, 2019, and activated from injured reserve on April 1, 2019.

Calgary Stampeders

After the AAF ceased operations in April 2019, Johnson signed with the practice roster for the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium and are the third-o ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

on August 13, 2019. He was released on November 25, 2019.

Los Angeles Wildcats

In October 2019, Johnson was selected by the

Los Angeles Wildcats Los Angeles Wildcats is a name shared by several American football teams from Los Angeles: *Los Angeles Wildcats (AFL) The Los Angeles Wildcats (also reported in various media as Pacific Coast Wildcats, Los Angeles Wilson Wildcats and Wilson's ...

in the

2020 XFL Draft The 2020 XFL Draft was the inaugural player selection process to fill the rosters of the eight teams of the 2020 reboot of the XFL. The draft was held on October 15–16, 2019, via conference call, with results released through the XFL's social ...

. Johnson was placed on the reserve/left squad list on February 10, 2020. Johnson was reportedly unhappy after the Wildcats fired defensive coordinator

Pepper Johnson Thomas "Pepper" Johnson (born July 29, 1964) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator and defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Bandits of the United States Football League (USFL). He played in the Nat ...

after their Week 1 loss.

DC Defenders

On February 14, 2020, Johnson was traded to the

DC Defenders The DC Defenders are a professional American football team based in Washington, D.C. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha Acquico. Th ...

in exchange for

Bradley Sylve Bradley Sylve (born January 29, 1993) is an American football cornerback who is currently a free agent. He played college football for the Alabama Crimson Tide. He was signed by the Buffalo Bills in 2017. College career Sylve spent 2011–2015 ...

. He had his contract terminated when the league suspended operations on April 10, 2020.

References

External links

Louisiana State Tigers bio
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Anthony 1993 births Living people Players of American football from New Orleans American football defensive tackles LSU Tigers football players Miami Dolphins players Washington Redskins players New England Patriots players New York Jets players Indianapolis Colts players Memphis Express (American football) players Calgary Stampeders players Los Angeles Wildcats (XFL) players DC Defenders players