Andre Johnson signs 1-day contract to retire with the Texans

The Houston Texans signed former wide receiver Andre Johnson to a one-day contract, allowing him to retire as a member of the team.

According to the Texans, Johnson was honored at a press conference on Wednesday, at NRG Stadium. Vice Chairman and Chief Operating Officer Cal McNair and Executive Vice President of Football Operations and General Manager Rick Smith were in attendance to honor Johnson.

The Texans displayed this tribute video at the press conference to celebrate Johnson’s career:

Johnson spent the last two seasons of his career making trips to other AFC South teams in the Colts and Titans. In 2015, He started in 14 of 16 games for the Colts, going just over 500 yards receiving with four touchdowns. This past season, he started three games for the Titans, and had just 85 yards with two touchdowns.

SB Nation’s Louis Bien took a look at Johnson’s career after he announced his retirement in October, and pointed out just how darn good he actually was.

During his peak seasons with the Texans, Johnson had below-average quarterbacks like David Carr, Tony Banks, Sage Rosenfels, Case Keenum, Ryan Lindley, and Ryan Fitzpatrick throwing to him. The best quarterback that ever threw to him was Matt Schaub, who helped the Texans go 12-4 in 2012 with a playoff appearance.

Johnson was the Texans’ first pick in their second ever NFL draft. He started in 169 games for the team from 2003 through 2014 as he racked up 13,597 yards, and 64 touchdowns with the team on 1,012 receptions. During that time, he had 133 consecutive games with a reception.

Johnson also hold nearly every receiving record in franchise history, including receptions, yards, touchdowns, and 100-yard games.

The gesture by the team to let him retire a Texan is a good one, and necessary based on the production he brought for so many years to the city of Houston.