Former Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson is eligible for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2021.
The Texans’ former No. 3 overall pick from Miami had a productive and exemplary career with Houston, earning seven Pro Bowls, three first-team All-Pro selections, leading the NFL in catches twice, and also leading the league in receiving yards twice. Johnson is also the “Mr. Texan” of the franchise as the organization’s charter member of the Ring of Honor.
Although Johnson caught 1,062 passes for 14,185 yards and 70 touchdowns in his career, he faces stiff competition as the league expanded its rules to accommodate for a heavier emphasis on the passing game.
Nevertheless, former Houston Texans quarterback Matt Schaub, who was Johnson’s teammate from 2007-13, knows that his former teammate’s work ethic was unquestioned, and that will earn him consideration as a first-ballot inductee.
“The thing obviously most people won’t know because they’re not between the fences when we’re at practice and into the offseason and everything is Andre’s work ethic is second to none,” Schaub told “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] on April 23. “And I’ve been around a lot of good players, a lot of solid type players, top at their positions, and no one works as hard as he does.
“No one was willing to put in the time, stay after, ‘Hey, Dre, let’s get in a few more throws.’ ‘Hey, absolutely.’ Most guys say, ‘No, I’m good.’ He would be wanting to. He would be like, ‘Let’s get that route two more times from both sides of the field.’ He would want to do more. He wanted to be there working in May and OTAs.”
Because of how reliable Johnson was as the team’s No. 1 receiver, Schaub was able to count on the 6-3, 229-pound target on Sundays.
“He knows where I’m going to throw it, and you know where he’s going to be and how he’s going to get there,” said Schaub. “So, that’s just something that the outside world never saw because obviously closed practices, you don’t see those things.
“But that is the type of guy Andre Johnson is and was, and I think that in itself, along with the numbers and the production and what he meant to the Texans organization and the NFL for all his years, shoot, he’s first ballot in my book.”
Schaub was a beneficiary of Johnson’s playmaking. The former Atlanta Falcons 2004 third-round pick earned two two Pro Bowl selections and won the NFL passing title in 2009.