Anthony Johnson talented on and off field

[gafin]

In addition to his football talents, Johnson is quite the accomplished singer. He sang in the choir at O. Perry Walker High in New Orleans, also performing the national anthem before some of his football games.

“I used to do that a lot, during halftime and everything, even before the games, even at basketball games when I played basketball, I used to sing the national anthem,” Johnson said. “I appreciated everybody for letting me do that. I actually won three state championships in the choir during high school and I sang at the New Orleans Jazz Festival three straight years. It was a big accomplishment for me. I kind of broke a couple of the sweats off before the game before I roughed up on somebody.

“I sing in the locker room, try to get everybody going, stay positive.”

According to a story in the The Advocate of Baton Rouge, Johnson made his public signing debut in church at the age of 4.

http://www.miamidolphins.com/news/a...he-Field/5edf9f59-d26b-4a1a-a5ee-cbf925e20121


I guess if they make him sing in training camp, it won't bother him a bit.

 

[NRA]

sounds like a decent kid with good values.

obviously raised by good people and not gangsta thugs. this means he has grit and determination.

just what we need. i am rooting for him big time!!

 

[thefranchisedef]

Didn't fall out of draft because of character issues?

 

[DisturbedShifty]

I wonder if any NFL team has ever had a member of it's team sing the National Anthem before?

 

[PHINSfan]

I was wondering the same thing..... Why did he fall all the way out of the draft??

 

[Fin Thirteen]

Failed drugs test at the Combine. No further details released that I'm aware of.

 

[spiketex]

I am reminded that former QB, Joey Harrington was also an accomplished pianist and this helped to boost his "marketability". However, at the end of the day all that really matters is if Anthony Johnson can play football well enough to contribute to the team, or not? It's nice that Anthony is an accomplished singer, maybe he can dance, too. But this doesn't matter a damn if his play isn't good enough. To fail a drug test at the Combine is pretty dumb, especially when everyone knows beforehand that the doctors test very thoroughly. Did he fail for marijuana or other subtances eg PEDs?
There are very few roster spots available on the D-line and it sounds like fellow rookie UFA Garrison Smith is also impressing big time and AJ Francis and Isaako Aatui are decent known DT commodities. Johnson could be very good but he's no certainty to make the team or Practice Squad. Hope he makes it.

 

[Fin Thirteen]

As I posted, no details of the failed test were ever released. But Johnson is considered to be a Seantrel Henderson/Hagemann type who were top recruits, had exceptional physical abilities but whose play showed up very inconsistently on tape.

Johnson was a 5-star recruit, Kiffen called him "The Freak" for his athleticism, but you don't see it that often on tape. While he might share that spotty production with Hagemann and Henderson, et al, what I believe separates him from a guy like Hagemann (other than the massive difference in expectations and round drafted) is his on-field smarts. This kid can read football and react accordingly. His technique off the snap is absolutely lousy though, he lets o-linemen get their hands on him routinely and his pad level is way too high.

He had a lousy combine, failed the drug test and brought with him some character baggage out of LSU, so he dropped right out of the draft. But Kacy Rodgers is THE D-line coach to get this guy up to scratch and I believe we'll have a solid depth tackle at worst from Johnson if he keeps his head straight.

 

[ANUFan]

sounds like a decent kid with good values.

obviously raised by good people and not gangsta thugs. this means he has grit and determination.

just what we need. i am rooting for him big time!!

Because we all know that's the only type of up-bring that brings "bad people" into the NFL.

 

[hoops]

technique does need a lot of work especially in the run game...explosive get off and gap quickness...not much of a poa guy at this point it's get up field and shoot gaps and while i think he's gap sound he will also lose contain in an effort to get to the qb...pursues the ball well when he wants to play i'd expect a more consistent effort in the pros so i think you will see him on his horse whenever he gets looks...gets washed out and loses in the run game most his flaws are technique and leverage based...will have to be cleaned up in the pros...got by a lot as a just superior physical specimen at the college level...

ball awareness is pretty solid but he gets turned around in the run game in short yardage a function of standing up to much and losing leverage battles and loses the ball as a result...flows laterally pretty well but there's a lot of turn and run down from the backside more than fill

should dominate one on one more than he does...doesn't know how to handle a double team at this stage...

all that said on the upside and the thought that the technique and leverage plays can be cleaned up i will be surprised if he's not the 4th dt on the 53

 

[Austin Tatious]

One thing that hasn't been discussed much is he was overweight for awhile at LSU. He has been one screwup after another. He hasn't had the best upbringing. Came out of a Katrina area. Overweight, drugs, lack of focus. But immense natural talent.

If anyone can get this kid to get it together it is Kacy Rodgers. Rodgers has a tremendous track record. He is the type of disciplinarian/father figure who can teach and get through to the kid. If you think about it, the kid hasn't done anything all that bad that some teaching and tough discipline won't fix. This is a 5 star talent that can be a steal. This is exactly the type of guy you take a chance on. I am highly optimistic on what we are doing here, if the kid is even reasonably attentive, which he apparently is.

 

[WVDolphan]

Didn't fall out of draft because of character issues?

Yep. The rap on him was he was lazy and therefore never reached his potential on the field. He was the top prospect at his position coming out of high school but, only dominated here and there. Word was he didnt just take plays off, but entire games sometimes.

He also was flagged for a positive drug test.

Classic underachiever. We can only hope he gets it in gear and realizes his full potential as a player. But, there are countless players like this on every NFL roster. Few of them ever get to that "upside" people always talk about.

 

[dolfanattic5]

He was mocked mostly in the 4th round. I checked
Multiple mocks and the lowest was 5th round, with the highest being the 2nd