But Johnson, born and raised in the Southern German city to an American father and a German mother, was seen by a former American college player when he played for his club team, The Stuttgart Scorpions, last season and advised him to give the American version of football a shot in the states.
"I just started researching what I'd have to do to play here in America so I took the ACT and the SAT and got registered with the NCAA Clearinghouse, Johnson said. "At first, I tried to get a scholarship right away out of Germany and I even got some responses from some colleges because I literally wrote an email to every FBS school in America with my highlight tape attached to it. I researched all of that. I got some responses but they mostly said come and prove yourself on American soil."
"Since Tennessee offered me more schools have started to talk to me," Johnson said. "I don't think anyone knew about me before Tennessee offered me."
"I know that they've got a really big stadium," Johnson offered. "I don't really know much about any school here in America. What I know about Tennessee is they have Tennessee whiskey or something. That's basically all I know." "I would love to take a visit there. I would really love to," Johnson said. "My family is starting to teach me more about the schools around here and I watched the Tennessee-Florida game when it was on yesterday. I'm starting to do my research on that and starting to get to know a little bit more about the colleges around here."
