From 2003 to 2014, the Houston Texans made the playoffs twice, losing in the divisional round both times. They only had four winning seasons in that span, with a pair of 2-14 campaigns and several fourth-place finishes as they attempted to find their footing as a franchise.
There are a lot of reasons why this was the case, with a number of people and factors to blame, but I can assure you that Andre Johnson was not one of them. The seven-time Pro Bowler was a monster on the field no matter who was throwing him the ball, leading the league in receptions twice, yards twice, and yards per game three times. However, the fact that he couldn't bring a championship to Houston despite his best efforts is something that still haunts him to this day.
Joining Pro Football Hall of Fame voters Clark Judge and Ira Kaufman on their "The Eye Test for Two" podcast, Johnson reflected on his career and revealed just how much it upsets him never to have won a ring in Houston.
"That was very disappointing. I think that's the thing — if there's one thing I can say I think about the most since I've retired, it would be that," Johnson said. "I think about that just about every day.
"When I first came to Houston, I knew it was a new franchise. It was the second year of the franchise, and I took it as a challenge. I just was like, after playing my rookie year, I was like nobody respects us. Nobody. It's almost like we were just the laughingstock of the NFL, you know?"
Sounds kind of like the current Texans team, doesn't it? Sorry, I had to. Back to Johnson.
"And I just took it as a challenge. I was just like, I want to give this organization its first championship, I want to help them get to its first playoffs and win its first playoff game, things of that nature," Johnson said. "It hurts me still that I wasn't able to help them win a championship. But at the end of the day, I was able to help get the organization to the playoffs, its first playoff win and things like that, but you still want that championship because that's what we all play for."
Johnson and the Texans finally broke into the playoff picture in 2011, winning the AFC South with a 10-6 record, largely thanks to contributions from Arian Foster (1,224 yards, 10 touchdowns) and defensive standouts J.J. Watt, Brian Cushing, Connor Barwin and Jonathan Joseph. Interestingly enough, Johnson was sidelined for nine games with a bad hamstring injury, though he was back in time for the playoffs, where he contributed in a big way — including a 40-yard touchdown and well over half of T.J. Yates' passing yards — to earn a Wild Card win over the Bengals.
They were even better the following season, going 12-4 thanks to Johnson's incredible campaign: 112 catches for 1,598 yards, the latter of which is still the franchise single-season record.
Johnson's last playoff game would come in that 2012 season, as the Texans fell flat in both 2013 and 2014, and his next stops — Indianapolis and Tennessee — came up empty, with Johnson's numbers taking a significant dip. But when looking at his career as a whole, it's hard not to envision him getting a bust in Canton with the rest of the game's greatest wideouts. Still, as amazing as that accomplishment would be, it seems like a Super Bowl ring would have made Johnson's career complete, at least from his perspective. From my view? He's done more than enough.
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