‘Best of the best, we’re forever immortalized,’ Texans’ Andre Johnson set for induction into Pro Football Hall of Fame

CANTON, Ohio – Emotions have been cascading over legendary wide receiver Andre Johnson like a waterfall building in power over the past few days.

A man of few words traditionally, Johnson has been overcome with feelings as he reflects on how much this pending moment means to him, to his family, teammates, coaches and the entire city of Houston.

As his formal induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame awaits Saturday when he’ll become the first Texan to be enshrined in Canton has been soaking up the experience. Joined in Canton by coach Gary Kubiak and multiple teammates, including a few who joined him for an early celebration at a local hotel Friday afternoon, Johnson can’t wait for it all to unfold.

The bust of his likeness in the Hall. To don the gold jacket he received Friday night during a banquet ceremony at the Canton Civic Center. To stand on the stage and thank everyone who helped him and cheered him along his path to football greatness, including his mother who has been by his side all week as this moment awaits.

As his telephone keeps ringing with congratulatory calls from people along each stage of his life, his pathway into Canton, the significance keeps sinking in for Johnson and growing and growing.

“My friends and family have called: ‘Andre, do you really realize what you’ve done?’” Johnson said during a press conference at the Canton Repository newspaper in downtown Canton. “I didn’t realize the impact I had on people, by just playing a football game. Making the Hall of Fame has really opened my eyes to that. Not only to have the impact on people, but to have the impact on the whole city. It was crazy that I was able to impact the city. It means a lot. It’s a tremendous honor.”

Johnson is being joined in Canton with some elite company that includes fellow inductees Dwight Freeney, the former Indianapolis Colts pass rusher, Denver Broncos linebacker Randy Gradishar, Chicago Bears return specialist Devin Hester, a fellow University of Miami alum, Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael, Carolina Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers and San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis

SEE ALSO Canton bound touchdown: Andre Johnson makes history as first Texans player to be named to Pro Football Hall of Fame

“It’s not about me,” Johnson said. “It’s about everybody who has played a part in it. This accomplishment alone, this is the best of the best. We’re forever immortalized. You’re in the one percent. You can’t beat that.”

It was quite a moment, and quite a feeling for the retired Texans All-Pro wide receiver. With his teammate and former quarterback at the Canton Civic Center along with several family members and men who shared a huddle with him, Johnson beamed with pride as he received his gold Pro Football Hall of Fame jacket Friday night.

“It’s a cool moment to be a part of and to reflect back on so many great times we had on the field as teammates,” Schaub, the best quarterback Johnson played with during his time in Houston, told KPRC 2. “To see all of our fellow teammates come in to be a part of this, it shows you what Andre meant to us as teammates and what he meant to our locker room and our organization and the city of Houston. He was really the heartbeat of everything.”

Johnson was much more than a physically gifted and prolific star wide receiver.

He also set a tireless example with his prodigious work ethic. His teammates, his brothers, they had no choice but to try to meet his gold standard.

He piled up 1,062 career receptions for 14,185 yards and 70 touchdowns and has the NFL record for the most 100 or more catch seasons and 1,400-yard receiving seasons.

“It gives no one an excuse not to work hard and find a little extra to do when your best player is also grinding, watching film, working hard at practice every day trying to get better,” Schaub said. “It just brings everyone else along. That leadership by example was what he was about and we all rallied and felt we had to do that as he did.”

For Johnson, that camaraderie is irreplaceable and invaluable.

The bonds and friendships he built were magical to Johnson.

“You never really realize the effect you have on people,” Johnson said. “For me, just having the support of those guys, I don’t consider them teammates. I consider them like my brothers. You spend so much time with those guys than you do your own family.

“I don’t miss playing the game. I miss being around the guys. That’s what you really, really miss. You miss the locker room, the bus rides, the plane rides. To have those guys here and to celebrate with them, it’s going to be awesome.”

Johnson has met several Hall of Fame legends during his time in the NFL, including during this week in Canton.

The overriding message from them: Welcome to the fraternity, and you belong here in Canton.

“To sit with those guys and talk with them, they’re really welcoming,” Johnson said. “It’s a very great experience. I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

Johnson won’t be alone Saturday in celebrating his moment at the Hall of Fame.

The entire current Texans team plans to attend after practicing Saturday morning to be a part of Johnson’s induction, including coach DeMeco Ryans, a retired Pro Bowl linebacker and Johnson’s teammate and friend.

“It’s a special time in our organization,” Ryans said. “It’s a huge honor for Andre Johnson and we’re all just happy to be here to support Andre and his huge accomplishment for his career. Well-deserved. Great guy, great teammate, great guy in the community. All across the board, Andre is outstanding in all aspects. Players you talk about respect from other guys across the league.

“Everybody knows, Andre knows what he’s done even when times weren’t as great, here in Houston. Andre was still, I bet, shining a light here in Houston. Making plays, creating a name for himself. He just epitomizes what this organization is about. You talk about hard work, you talk about a championship mindset, that’s what Andre Johnson is all about.”

It wasn’t just the explosive speed or the trademark toughness. Just ask Tennessee Titans corner Cortland Finnegan how scrappy Johnson could be if his temper reached its boiling point. It was mostly about his personal quality of never accepting anything less than his own gold standard as he went about his handiwork on a daily basis on the practice field.

Johnson will be presented by his former coach, Gary Kubiak, who told KPRC 2 that Johnson, a man of few words, cut right to the chase when he called and told him he wanted him to be the one to introduce him at the Hall of Fame.

It was Kubiak who encouraged Johnson to learn every possible position because of his versatile plan for him ranging from every receiver spot to even lining up at running back on occasion.”

“He told me, ‘I need you to learn everything because we’re going to be moving you around a lot,’” Johnson said. “I took on the challenge. I learned everything about the offense. When he got there and started doing those things, things started to happen for me. He means a lot to me. He’s not only a great coach, but a great friend.”

Johnson singled out his 14-catch, 273-receiving yard performance and game-winning touchdown in a 2012 overtime victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars as his most singular moment.

“That was probably my favorite game I played in,” Johnson said. “Playing in front of those fans, Houston is a football city. Just playing in front of those fans, it was a lot of love, a lot of passion behind the Houston Texans.”

As an epic milestone approaches the Texans’ franchise with Andre Johnson becoming the first member of the AFC South franchise to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his football legacy is steeped in a blue-collar work ethic that boosted his superstar skills and athleticism.

When Ryans was an NFL rookie linebacker, he watched a seemingly tireless All-Pro wide receiver ply his trade.

“For me being a rookie coming in and watching Andre work, I’ve never seen anyone work like him on any team I’ve been on,” Ryans said. “It’s just the guy showed up every single day. He was the hardest worker, he was our best player and when your best player is your hardest worker, what example is that setting for the younger guys.

“It was a great example for me being a younger player and watching the way he worked and watching the way he went about his business. I always tell the story like me practicing and playing with Andre for six years, I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen him drop a football.”

SEE ALSO Canton bound touchdown: Andre Johnson makes history as first Texans player to be named to Pro Football Hall of Fame

When asked to single out his favorite all-time plays earlier this year, Johnson mentioned two.

One was against Arizona in 2009 when he caught a pass from Matt Schaub and ran over three defenders on his way to a 17-yard score. The other was in 2010 against Washington. The Texans trailed by a touchdown with just over two minutes left. They were facing fourth-and-10 when Schaub threw the ball up to Johnson, who caught it over safety Reed Doughty. The score tied the game, and the Texans won in overtime.

“He was a very, very special player and I always remember the Washington game,” Ryans said. “I think it was like an overtime game or fourth quarter, everyone knows the ball is going to Andre. They know it. We know it. They have like three guys on him and he still goes up and makes the play for us to win the game. Just outstanding player. The best I’ve seen.”

A four-time All-Pro selection, Johnson had five seasons with at least 100 catches and three seasons with 1,500 receiving yards, despite never having played with a Hall of Fame quarterback in Houston

“I don’t think this was only just for me,” Johnson said. “This was for the whole city of Houston. For the whole organization. Grown men telling me they were crying, having people tell you, ‘God gave us a superhero here in Houston.’ You don’t realize how people look up to you.”

Former Texans coach Gary Kubiak, who will present Johnson, coached the seven-time Pro Bowl selection, during his tenure from 2016 to 2013 in Houston. During that span, Johnson led the NFL in catches in 2006 and 2008 and in receiving yards in 2008 and 2009 and was a first-team All-Pro selection.

“I tell people that ask me ‘how does it feel?,’ I just feel like I’m on a cloud right now,” Johnson said when he was selected. “I don’t think anything could make me mad right now. Just getting that knock at the door was very emotional and it was just kind of a sense of closure to my career. I always said that I never ever thought of being a Hall of Famer, but to have that happen, it was a tremendous feeling.”

Growing up in Florida, Johnson idolized arguably the top receiver in NFL history.

“I mean, Jerry Rice was my favorite wide receiver to watch,” Johnson said. “I tell people hands down, he’s the best receiver that ever played the game, probably could even be mentioned as one of the greatest players to ever play, but I watched a lot of different players growing up. It wasn’t just wide receivers, Marshall Faulk, Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders was always my favorite running back. Dan Marino, to me, is I mean I know he hadn’t won all of the Super Bowls – but to me, he is my favorite quarterback to ever play the game.”

Johnson holds the Texans’ all-time records with 1,012 catches, 13,597 yards, 64 receiving touchdowns, and 51 100-yard games. He holds single-game records for most receptions (14), receiving yards (273), and receiving touchdowns (three) in a game.

Following his final two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and Tennessee Titans, Johnson signed a one-day contract with the Texans that allowed him to retire as a member of the organization.

“I can’t think of anyone more deserving to be the Texans’ first Hall of Fame inductee than Andre Johnson,” Texans principal owner Cal McNair said. “Every time he took the field, we knew he was bringing an incomparable passion and intensity that was a joy to watch. His impact across our community is immeasurable and we are thrilled he has secured his rightful place in NFL history forever. Andre will always be a Texan and now, he is officially a Hall of Famer.”

For the current Texans players, watching Johnson be inducted is an experience they intend to soak up and enjoy.

It’s Andre’s day, and it’s a time to celebrate his greatness.

“The day is all about him and I will be glad to be there in support just like everybody else and just support honestly,” Texans wide receiver John Metchie III. “Of course, he had an amazing career and we all watched him. I watched him a lot, so it is not really about any of us. It is just about being there to support somebody who came before us. It is all about those who came before you and I am glad we are able to be there. I am glad he is able to be out here in practice to support us. Just like he is out here supporting us, we are going to be out there supporting him.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.