Coach insists Anthony Johnson headed to NFL football in some capacity

Anthony Johnson already denied rumors that he’d be trading in his fighting gloves for a football helmet, but “Rumble’s” next job will more than likely be with the National Football League (NFL).

While he kept all of the juicy details to himself, Henri Hooft, Johnson’s head trainer, says his hard-hitting pupil has been leaving hints on his social media pages as to what his next career move will likely be.

“I’m not going to go into details, because I don’t know the real details, but everybody sees his (social media) pages and it has to do with football,” Hooft said Monday on The MMA Hour (via MMA Fighting).

“I don’t know, I didn’t really discuss the details, but he seems to be busy with this for awhile and enjoying it. It has something to do, totally different than with MMA, and I think if you really want to stop fighting, you really need to step away from it, because if you keep hanging in there, you’ll probably get lured back in there,” said Hooft.

Johnson abruptly announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) following his submission loss to Daniel Cormier this past weekend (sat., April 8, 2017) at UFC 210 in Buffalo, New York.

When asked if he would be taking a job with the Los Angles Rams, due to the fact that Johnson’s Twitter showcases the team’s helmet, Hooft couldn't confirm.

“I think so,” Hooft said. “Listen, I’m a European guy. I know everything about soccer, but not much about the NFL. Sorry about that.”

“Anthony is 33 years old, so you never know what happens in the future, but if you want to step away from it, you really need to step away from it. Or you need to become a coach, like I did after my fight career. But it’s totally different than MMA. I think it has something to do with football. If you look at his Twitter and his social media, people will find out sooner or later what’s really going on.”

Johnson did leave the door slightly open for a combat sports return should his new venture not pan out the way he envisioned it. The question is, will he resurrect the “Rumble” moniker should he mount an MMA comeback?