Andre Johnson retires after Hall of Fame-worthy career

Longtime Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson told the Tennessee Titans that he plans to retire, the team announced Monday.

Johnson, 35, was the No. 3 pick in the 2003 NFL Draft and played his first 12 seasons with the Texans. He racked up 13,597 receiving yards and 64 touchdowns with the team, putting every franchise record well out of reach for the near future. No other Texans receiver has even 5,000 yards or 30 touchdowns.

If there’s a Texan who could catch him it’s DeAndre Hopkins, who has had a better statistical start to his career than Johnson did, but he still has a long time of trying to stay healthy and productive to make up the difference.

Still, Johnson ends his career with numbers that should certainly land him in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He’s ninth all-time in receptions with 1,062 and 10th all-time in receiving yards with 14,185. The production came despite the fact that the Texans struggled to find a player to throw him the ball during most of his career.

Matt Schaub and David Carr threw the most passes Johnson’s way, but the Texans also cycled through players like Sage Rosenfels, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Case Keenum and T.J. Yates during his time in Houston.

While the most famous moment of Johnson’s career may be his on-field fist fight with Cortland Finnegan, he was a quiet player who let his play do the talking. It was reflected in his retirement that will not feature a goodbye press conference.

Off the field, Johnson did charity work often, including an annual Christmas shopping spree at Toys “R” Us where he let kids scoop up thousands of dollars worth of toys via the Andre Johnson Charitable Foundation.

Johnson was released by the Texans in March 2015 with his contract swelling and his numbers declining, and landed instead with the Indianapolis Colts for one season. He caught just 41 passes for 503 yards, and had an even lesser role with the Titans in 2016, where he tallied only nine catches for 85 yards in eight games.

Johnson hauled in a game-winning reception for the Titans in Week 2, but continued to get phased out of the Tennessee offense. Week 8 was the third straight game he finished without a reception.

The announcement from Johnson comes one week after another former Texans player, running back Arian Foster, announced a surprise midseason retirement.