Still on a cloud, Texans great Andre Johnson says Hall of Fame honor 'is for whole city of Houston'

Almost a week had passed since it was announced he’d been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and Andre Johnson said he still felt like he was in heaven.

It almost didn’t feel real, he said, but it was.

Johnson, 42, became the first Texans draftee — and the first player to spend the majority of his career with the organization — to be elected to the Hall.

The Texans selected Johnson No. 3 overall in the 2003 NFL draft out of the University of Miami, one year after the organization began its first season.

“I don’t think this was only just for me,” Johnson said Wednesday. “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.”

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Johnson, who played wide receiver in Houston for the first 12  seasons of his 14-year NFL career, said he never really expected to get into the Hall of Fame. It was never his desire.

But when he did finally get that knock on the door, it meant everything to him and his family.

He said he recalled watching Jimmy Johnson, a former Miami coach who went on to win two Super Bowls with the Dallas Cowboys, show surprise on Fox television when he was elected.

“Jimmy Johnson is my favorite coach, and he didn’t talk,” Johnson recalled. “So it was like, damn, that has to be a crazy feeling to be surprised like that and not be able to talk.

“When I got it … I mean, Cris Carter — we go way back.”

Carter surprised Johnson with a knock at his door three weeks ago. That’s when Johnson first found out he would be enshrined in Canton, Ohio.

Johnson first met Carter when he was a freshman at Miami. At the time, Johnson wasn’t playing much. He was behind future NFL receivers Santana Moss and Reggie Wayne on the depth chart and playing mostly on special teams.

But watching Johnson return kickoffs and punts, Carter, now a Hall of Famer himself, told him he’d be a special player one day.

He was right. Johnson is the Texans’ all-time leader in receiving yards, receptions and receiving touchdowns. He ranks 11th in NFL history with 1,062 catches and 14,184 receiving yards and is tied for 51st with 70 touchdown catches.

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.

To be voted into the Hall, Johnson had to receive at least 80% of the votes from a 50-person committee. Also elected into the 2024 class were defensive end Dwight Freeney, linebacker Randy Gradishar, return man Devin Hester, defensive tackle Steve McMichael, defensive end Julius Peppers and linebacker Patrick Willis.

“When I got the knock and I opened the door and saw (Carter) sitting in his gold jacket, I was just like, man,” Johnson said. “I just turned away and walked off.”

When asked his favorite plays, 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.

Johnson will officially be inducted into the Hall of Fame during an Aug. 3 ceremony at Canton. He said he hasn’t yet decided who will present him but added he has three people — all unnamed — in mind.

Regardless, he knows it will be a great day.

“People ask me how I feel. I feel like I’m on a cloud,” Johnson said. “I don’t think anything could make me mad.”