(SportsRadio 610) - The Pro Football Hall of Fame revealed the modern-era finalists for the Class of 2023 this week, highlighted by three players who made the cut in their first year of eligibility: defensive end Dwight Freeney, cornerback Darrelle Revis and left tackle Joe Thomas.
Former Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson is amongst those finalists this year. For Johnson, it’s the second consecutive year he’s made it to the final vote.
“It’s a tremendous honor. I don’t really think about it much to be honest, until it comes around,” Johnson said. “hopefully this year we can get in.”
Johnson, the Texans all-time leader in receptions (1,012), yards (13,597), touchdowns (64) and 100-yard games (51), fell short last February in his first bid at making the Hall of Fame.
He made the reduction to 10 but not the final five in which the inductees are chosen.
This year, the process began with 129 candidates, nine of which were in their first year of eligibility. That group was whittled down to 28 semi-finalists, then to the current group of 15 individuals, which will eventually be reduced to ten and then five before a determination is made as to who among them have their name forever etched into the games greatest of all-time and displayed in Canton.
If Johnson does get into the HOF this year, he said it will just be the topper to all the years of hard work and dedication to the game and his teams.
“It’ll mean a lot, it just shows everything I put out and all of the hard work I put in,” Johnson said. “Just the peers and voters respecting your game and the way you carried yourself out in the field, so it would mean a lot.”
The Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2023 will be announced on February 9th.
For context, I thought it would be interesting to look at the exclusivity of the three major sports in America and their Hall’s of Fame.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame opened in Canton, Ohio in 1963 with 17 charter inductees.
The first class included 11 former players (Red Grange, Don Hutson, Dutch Clark, Bronko Nagurski, Mel Hein, Pete Henry, Cal Hubbard, Sammy Baugh, Johnny McNally, Ernie Nevers and Jim Thorpe), 1 founder/owner/coach (George Halas), and 5 owners/executives (Curly Lambeau, Bert Bell, Joe Carr, Tim Mara and George Marshall).
There are currently 366 members of the HOF in Canton, Ohio. Of the current members, 306 of them are former players, 27 are former coaches and 29 of those enshrined are contributors.
Total players in NFL history through 2022 season: 27,135
Percentage of players in HOF: 1.1%
The Baseball HOF in Cooperstown, New York is comprised of 341 elected members. Included are 269 former players, 40 executives and pioneers, 22 managers and 10 umpires.
The first class was elected in 1936, that included Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Ty Cobb.
Total players in MLB history through 2022 season: 22,860
Percentage of players in HOF: 1.1%
The Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF in Springfield, Massachusetts was founded in 1959.
There are 111 former NBA players that are current members of the Naismith Memorial Basketball HOF.
The first class of inductees included four players (George Mikan, Charles Hyatt, Hank Luisetti, John Schommer), three coaches (Phog Allen, Henry Clifford Carlson, Walter Meanwell), seven contributors (James Naismith, Ralph Morgan, Luther Gulick, Edward Hickox, Harold Olsen, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Oswald Tower), one referee (Matthew Kennedy), the Original Celtics and The First Team.
Since its inaugural class in ‘59, the Hall of Fame has enshrined 401 coaches, players, referees and contributors.
Total players in NBA history through 2022 season: 5,094
Percentage of players in HOF: 2.1%
Andre Johnson could be joining the elite of the elite in the world of professional sports and is more than deserving.
There are currently 29 receivers in the Pro Football HOF.
The former Texan has more receptions than 24 of them. He gained more yards than 23 of them. He scored more touchdowns than 10 of them and played in more games than 18 of those already enshrined.
While both Reggie Wayne and Torry Holt are receivers among the finalists with Johnson being considered for the 2023 class, Johnson played in 18 fewer games (193) than Reggie Wayne and has only eight fewer catches, 160 fewer yards and 12 fewer touchdowns than the former Indianapolis Colt.
Considering the fact that Johnson caught passes from nine different quarterbacks that went to a total of two Pro Bowls while Reggie Wayne had the likes of Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck during his 14-year career, for Johnson to have compiled the numbers he did, he is more than deserving of the nod in his second year of eligibility.
It’s something that he even mentioned when prompted on Thursday at NRG Stadium.
Johnson was asked a hypothetical question in regard to making a case for himself to get into the HOF if he’d ever have the opportunity to speak with members of the committee.
“If you look at my career, I never played with a Hall of Fame quarterback, I never played with any other Hall of Fame player,” Johnson said. “If I did play with a Hall of Fame player, it’s probably JJ Watt and he played on the defensive side of the ball. I don’t know of many guys that have put up the numbers that I’ve put up without playing with another Hall of Fame guy.”
Longtime Sports Radio 610 contributor and former Houston Chronicle writer, John McClain, is the Houston representative on the HOF committee and will be making a strong argument for the former Texan and will most assuredly put an exclamation on what Johnson said Thursday.
As far as the what could have been in a 14-year NFL career, while Johnson never got a chance to win or even play in a Super Bowl, nor play with a Hall of Fame quarterback, he carved out a helluva career making the very best of the situation his organization put him in.
“You’re dealt a hand and just try to make the best of it,” Johnson said. “That’s just the way I’ve always approached it. Yeah, of course I would’ve wanted to play with a Peyton Manning, a Drew Brees, Tom Brady, I think any receiver would. That wasn’t the hand I was dealt, so I had to make the best of what I was dealt, and that’s what I tried to do.”
Here’s hoping that the Hall of Fame committee doesn’t unnecessarily prolong the greatest recognition a former player could receive and Johnson is enshrined into football immortality later this summer.