Texans DE Denico Autry's Suspension, First Depth Chart, and Andre Johnson to HOF

welcome to the believe in Texans podcast alongside former Houston Texans wide receiver six-year NFL veteran Cecil SCH II I am Patrick kraton host of Area 45 on your Flagship home of the Houston Texas and Sports Radio 610 in Houston Cecil we are now through 10 days of training camp uh for the Houston Texans but the big news came down in the last 24 hours one of their big free agent signings is not going to be joining them to start the season uh Deno arry who was I want to say the first major player that they signed in free agency suspended six games for violating the performance enhancing drug Clause uh of the CBA uh Deno then uh released a statement stating that uh he was stunned by the fact that he had tested positive hired a legal team they did an investigation trying to find out what it was that could have caused him to test positive uh it turns out it goes back to a prescription that a doctor wrote that uh the pharmacy that made this particular prescription uh included an ingredient that caused him to fail the peed screen and he didn't say what the medication was or what it was that it was being taken for just that there was a separate medication that he was taking that turned out to include something that was uh on the NFL's you know ban substances list I want to get your thoughts on a the fact that you know look there there really there's no recourse people well why didn't he appeal there's not really any appeal anymore it's uh once once the league hands down judgment it's very much a zero sum game but your thoughts on a the impact of losing denry for six games and B does there need to be a revision in the way that the NFL conducts these tests because I feel like the the situation that denique Guri is caught up in there was no plausible means for him to be aware of this situation so let's start with what is the impact to Deno arry being out six games for the Houston Texans you lost a big time defensive lineman uh to start the season off um your schedule is not easy and when you bring in a guy 34 year old who's been in the league a long time understands how to be a pro had one of his best years last year consistent guy um day in and day out you lose a pass rusher up the middle you lose a guy that can help stop the run um and you lost a veteran uh a veteran line that can help the other D tackle SL DNS in that room um and when you're suspended you're not in the building so the first 6 weeks he will not be in the building at all um which is tough and that's a and I know it's 12 more weeks after that or 11 whatever it is um but that first six weeks is it's going to be tough man it's going to be tough that first quarter of the season quarter and a half of the Season you really are trying to get off to a good start number one right but also um you're still building the chemistry you're still building uh that time together on the field together right because it's only what two I guess this year is three preseason games but normally it's two preseason games now so he he wouldn't have necessarily that time and that chemistry on the field to get uh you know learn how to get the call from um El Elshire and then how to work with uh denil and and whoever else is on the on the on the defensive line with him and that's timing and and and and continuity that he will not be able to get um so it's it's a huge loss in that sense but also I think I I'm a guy that's optimistic I like to look at it you know glass half full he'll be fresh the last part you know Midway through and halfway uh for the last part of the I'm sorry the middle of the season to the end he'll be a fresh a fresh guy he'll be able to come in and do his his job and I'm sure he'll do it well but this hurts early on um and maybe we'll see him a lot Thursday or a lot in the preseason to make sure he get those reps in usually that that type of stuff happens guys that are suspended or um will not be able to play for whatever reason the first couple games they get a lot of preseason action because they won't be with the team at all forough a lot of the amount of games they've been suspended for so it's going to hurt um he's somebody that I think everybody was counting on that defensive side of the ball to make plays um so we'll see we'll see who else can step up looking at the dep chart there a lot of young guys um but we'll see who can step up and maybe there'll be a splash um from a d tackle position when all the cuts are are uh I wouldn't be surprised when all the cuts happen that they go out and bring another D tackle or two in that can really uh help this defense out from week one um and make an impact now let's talk about how the NFL and and this policy the way this policy is is implemented right so they have player basically has no no recourse if if you fail the test period that's it uh there's there's not like you can appeal it uh you're not going to win an appeal there there's no way to win an appeal uh you're it's six games it's it's zero tolerance there are also you know there's there's things that are on the band substance list that are not actually peeds yes uh they are considered to be things that might mask if you are taking a peed um we have seen in the past guys who were taking fertility drugs fail PE tests um that's not quite enhancing the same performance by the way um the there seems to be this idea I mean I don't know what kind of medication that he was taking nor do I know like for what reason and and that's not I mean honestly it's not necessarily our business right it's it's his health issue but whatever it is had enough of something on the ban substance list that caused him to fail a test now I don't know what that substance was but did that substance really increase his performance I feel like we have now created a situation where if you are a football player in the NFL and somebody in a pharmacy decides you know what I'm in a crappy mood today I'm just gonna mess with some people and they put a little something in in your medication that shouldn't be there sorry failed you you have no recourse I feel like this is set putting players at an unfair risk how is a player supposed to not trust his doctor yeah so you go to the doctor they know you're an NFL player they know what the band substance list is uh they write you a prescription there's no way you could possibly know every single thing that's in that prescription am I supposed to not trust my doctor am I supposed to when I get my medication from the pharmacy now I'm going to turn into Walter White and I'm going to have my home chemistry set and I'm going to drop it into like this Beaker and that Beaker and we're going to run it through the red stuff and the blue stuff to try to figure out what the hell is in there there there there comes a point where feasibility has to has to come into play and I don't believe it is practical that a player has to be deliberately mistrustful of a pharmacy receiving a medication that for all intents and purposes should not be something that's on a ban substance list in the NFL uh this to me is a is is a problem situation I I got mixed feelings about this um from a player standpoint if I'm going to the doctor to get a prescription for something for my health I'm not thinking about what's on the band substance list if I don't do steroids I'm not thinking about what's on the list like at all so for his legal team to trace it back to that subscription is very frustrating because it's like when you're at the doctor and whatever that prescription was for he's not going to P that prescription say oh I can't take this because it's so and so in it and I can't take that because that's part of the band substance what if he needs that right and and and and like you mentioned is that particular substance is that really a performance enhancer like is that really going to make him stronger faster more explosive uh pay more attention I I I don't I don't know um but at the same time there are certain uh companies and products that you can work with if that makes sense so um in in in deno's case it was kind of out of his hands at at all right but in other cases if you're taking uh any type of supplements or any protein or any drinks or anything like that there's a specific um and their labels are like NSF if you go through this company they have tons of everything that you may need to get ready for the season that are fully clean their company uh goes about it the right way um and you can use that there's other companies like that too as well so there's resources for you if you're if you're down that Lane right um so that's where I get confused I'm like if a guy gets busted and he's been taking bad protein or even that you know there's options for him but at the same time you're not tracing it like you're not sitting there like I need to look through the ingredients or I need to test this ingredient to make sure there's nothing in the protein if somebody doesn't do their job how's that the player's fault if somebody at that particular company in that factory did not do the good job how is that the player's fault that's what I get frustrated with like you're bling you're saying this is a baned substance there's a 100 million things on the substance list and if one of those things is off if one of those things is on that particular subst or somebody makes a mistake now that player is missing five five games four games six games that is frustrating that is hard to deal with as a player I think they need to shorten the list they need to make sure that um it's so much science it's so much you can get into it's so many ways that they can figure out if this substance is really a substance that's enhancer rather than a substance that's just may be masking something or something else right um and I think too you got to look at the history of the player if the player is you know failed once or twice or is known or whatever the case may be is different but this guy like a Deno who's never been in trouble before um and then he's has a prescription for something personal with health like come on like like like six games that's that's just a lot to me CU he's not getting paid he can't be around the team he's not around as coaches he can't talk to anybody in the building as far as coaches and GM stuff like that that's just harsh for me um from a player standpoint no and I I said because I'm thinking about it is okay so it's this is a prescription type of situation where the the product came from the pharmacy incorrectly you mentioned supplements what happens if let's say I you know um you're a player and you go to you know GNC just for example I'm not trying to slam GNC all right um but you go to GNC and you pick up say or here's a new supplement and you look on the ingredients list and there is nothing on the ingredients list that is on the band substance list but you fail because whatever it is that that tested positive is not listed in the ingredients there's no plausible way there's no realistic way for you to have known that taking that sub that particular product was going to cause you to fail but in the eyes of the NFL too bad so sad and and this is like that's that's not beneficial to the game in my opinion like if if we're if they're gonna make decisions that are just it's it's everything is zero sum and we don't care how or why you failed you failed therefore you are suspended it it puts in like an undo burden on a player because there's no way you can know about something if it's mislabeled are you supposed to expect that all products are mislabeled like are you supposed to expect that your doctor is is going to prescribe something to you that you can't have or that he prescribes something to you you can have but the pharmacy is going to make it wrong like this is what I mean is it can't there has to be room for logic and common sense to apply this isn't hey uh you know we took star caps and we didn't look at the ingredients we just thought hey they're over the- counter they're fine and then it turns out that that that there's things in here that I can't have this is more like remember when Dwayne Brown failed his ped test because he went to Mexico and he ate like a ton of red meat and the the rules and the laws in Mexico different and a lot all the meat that he ate had a lot of steroids in it not the same kind that you know players would take but had a lot of steroids in it because they they put steroids into their cattle he ate a ton of red meat and it showed up in his test and he was able to go back and show hey I didn't actually do anything this came from red meat that I ate in Mexico well today it would have been not our problem yeah and he got six games yeah and and you know these are that's to me that's this is the common sense aspect that we're losing because they just I mean what is the purpose of giving away the common sense aspect for well you failed we don't care too bad like how does that make the game better safer whatever I don't think it does it it doesn't and that's a third of the Season like you're punishing a guy who's never been in trouble for when it comes to Performance enhan performance enhancers and then he gets a prescription from his doctor completely out of his hand he has nothing to do with the ingredients right nothing to do with it and you get him a third of the Season gone for that that to me that's just going back to your point the Common Sense part right the Common Sense part where do the Common Sense come in where does it sit in cuz a third of the season is is crazy well see so we are uh very close to the hall of of Fame game this will be the first preseason game for the Texans this year and the Texans have their first we we say unofficial depth chart released of the season and obviously there are some players who are not going to play in this game who are listed at the top of the depth chart but uh as far as your offensive starters are are go there are no surprises it's CJ Stout it's Joe Mixon uh neither of whom are probably going to play Joe mixon's not even practicing uh your receivers are Nico Stefon and tank Dalton Schultz is the tight end the offensive line is laramy tunel Kenyan green juice scrug sha Mason Titus Howard lar me tunel of course not yet practicing and he will probably not play in the in the preseason uh Blake fiser has been the backup for laramy tunel and it looks like he is going to be more than likely the person who starts it at left tackle the some of the backups I thought were interesting so on the running back depth chart it goes Joe Mixon Damen Pierce dumali jaar Jordan then you've got cam Acres JJ Taylor and British Brooks but the top four being Mixon Pierce agumba wall and Jordan which means you know with with Joe mix had not practicing Joe probably will not practice for another a week or so uh Damen Pierce daro mall and jair Jordan now I know the preseason games look you get a lot of backups a lot of twos and threes but I feel like the person of of those three who most needs to show what they're capable of is probably jair Jordan rookie back uh first game experience with Team uh if he's going to have a shot to try to climb up the the latter I think it's important jaar Jordan has a you know has a good showing I would agree with that I think Dar needs to have a good showing too um when you bring a guy in like cam makers who is a talented back I know he has some injuries with his Achilles and and knee and other things but that dude is talented when it comes to cammers not sure how many reps he'll get in preseason um but I think D needs to have a really good showing whether it's on special teams whether I think of course they do well on special teams but really in the back field can he Tote The Rock can he be a guy that gets a carrier to if Damien or if Joe can come in or gets you know nicked up for a play um and Jare can he be a special teamer can he be back there on kickoff return right he he did it he did it at Louisville in college can he be the guy in a different type of kickoff return world now right this is a totally different world than we're used to it's a blank page for everybody um Mike Tomlin went on the air the other day on his interview and said you know I'm going to be watching the Hall of Fame game just for the kickoff return so so if jarin has success in the kickoff return area he may be a guy that can be able to stick around um so it's going to be interesting those two in particular Dar and J and jair see what they can do but I wouldn't be surprised if Cam if Cam Acres makes some plays in preseason make things interesting Dar is the backup kicker he has to make the team uh and for those of you wondering yes my my my daughter's giant stuffed husky is still behind me uh sitting on the daybed because she has not decided what she's going to do with it so there is still the giant stuffed husky uh behind me uh on the daybed here in the office um other other parts of the depth chart the backup receivers are listed as Noah Brown Robert Woods and John mie III uh of those three mie has had a very strong Camp thus far Noah Brown has had a good camp the last couple days Noah Brown has made some some plays uh Ben scaron Xavier Hutchinson Steven Sims they are all listed with the threes uh of the guys listed with the twos Noah Brown Robert Woods John mie who needs the biggest performance um I think John M needs to continue to show he is a player right I think he need to continue to show hey I can go out here I can play he looks great in 101 he looks great on team he's having connection with Davis meals with CJ when he's in there at times so I think he needs to continue to ascend um cuz you want to really remind people hey you drafted me for a reason right this is a this is third year you drafted me for a reason I he he can be a player but I think Noah Brown is critical in the two I think Robert Woods is gone no matter what no offense to him I just think the numbers wise and look at the age and what's going on I think I think he'll be out of here um but I think Noah Brown who had two really good games last year uh I think 150 yards against Cincinnati and another 100 yard game back to back or or near each other I think he needs to have a good showing to prove like hey don't forget about me I can make plays in the passing game I where I'm supposed to be I have a connection when probably Davis and case and really go out there and start playing well because the third string those young guys can play it's going to be a tight receiver room and the guys that can show they can make plays and be um available on special teams I got other guys going to make the team so I think out of that group two I think M needs to continue to ascend I think he'll be in good shape but Noah Brown really got to step up and show hey I can play some ball see so as we look at the tight end room which tight end do you think is more in danger of not being on the roster Brevin Jordan or Tagan curano oh Tagan tan tan easily even though tan has all the potential and he has bright spots throughout camp and bright spots through his time BR made plays last year and then was the Cleveland game he took that five yard out down the sideline for a touchdown I can't remember what what game it was was but Brevin is a guy he listed number two here um he's a guy I think is is going to be safe I I think he is going to to make it no doubt about it um so I would definitely pick tan all right as we flip to the defensive side of the ball we mentioned uh Den orryy is going to be suspended for the first six games that makes your defensive tackles uh Foley fasi and Mario Edwards with khil Davis and Tim settle behind them uh do you expect anybody is going to kind of rise up to the occasion and kind of be the like the leader of that group or do you think that the Texans are going to more go to uh a rotation where they just going to keep revolving those doors trying to keep guys fresh uh and and see that they try to get just the freshest guys out there to try to make plays what how do you foresee them utilizing uh the defensive tackle position with Deno arry out for the first six games honestly I think line is a always a rotating door right you want to bring in FH fresh pass rushers you want to bring in fresh guys that can stop the run um but when you are losing out on Deno you're looking for a guy to step up and Foley is the first guy that comes to mind had a really good year a couple years in Jacksonville um I expect him to be kind of the leader in the room until Deno can come back but I I wouldn't be surprised if they find some young guys whether it's settle um Davis Mario to really rotate in and and and go and go about it but I think Foley will be the guy that steps up maybe not replace Deno but can um him and a few other guys can help uh create some of the same things Deno as one person can create in a group of three or four all right now this is something that I think is interesting right they list three linebackers as Aziz alire Christian Harris and Henry Toto they list three corners Derek Stingley and Kamari Lasser with the ones on the outside Dez King is listed as the nickel Jaylen Petri and Jimmy Ward the safeties now we've seen Jaylen Petri line up at linebacker we've seen him line up in the nickel we've seen jayen Petri all over the field uh do you think it is more likely that we see Jaylen Petri as a traditional safety or do you think we see more jayen Petri getting moved all over the place which means kin bulock uh would get a lot more run as a safety per se that's interesting um I think off the top of my head you use training camp in preseason to see okay how comfortable is Jaylen at the nickel how comfortable is jayen at linebacker how comfortable is he at safety where is he best at is he best at back deep in safety is he best closer to the line of scrimmage like what is his skill set what is his assets what's the best coverage for him is he really good man is he not good man that's the time in training camp that's what you want to see right so in training camp that's not a surprise he's doing all those things um but by Time season comes and then also when he's there in those different positions you got kin somewhere else right as that deep safety really good long can go from um sideline to sideline decently world at USC um so I think Jaylen will end up in his normal position at safety until Caitlin shows that he's officially ready for the NFL type speed right practice speed is different than preseason speed preseason speeds different than regular season and regular season different than playoffs it's all completely different um so I would think Jaylen stays back in his normal position and then maybe when kin is ready when bulock is ready then they may move him around or whatever the case may be but I think Jaylen will stay where he's at ultimately who do you think winds up with the least amount of playing time between kin Bullock Dez King and Henry Toto o I would say uh oh I'm looking at the I would say kayin Kaylin Bullock right now um I think Henry is a guy that can make plays Henry is the Alabama guy he's uh that linebacker room they're going to learn so much from air and and Deo um I get Deno and Deo mixed up but from too that he'll be able to be on the field to make plays I think kin is going to be a transition for him it's hard as a rookie DB to come in and and and make a real impact as a rookie it's hard right um and I think D King is just really good at the nickel he's really good at what he does he can he's physical at the point of attack he can make plays he understands the game he he communicate to that high level I think D King will definitely get his rips at nickel so I would say kin right now see I'm with you I think Dez is a very underrated player he is man he is I think he's a really good nickel corner I think he's got a nose for the ball I think he finds ways to make plays you know you remember when they brought him back last year he played one snap in his first game and it was a goal line stuff I mean he's just he he makes plays I really like Dez King as a player um I think that I agree with you about kin bulck as far as the early season goes but I also think the Texans really like that three safety alignment and if if they play three safety alignment that is going to come at the expense of Henry totoa because as as good as tooa May wind up being he's not on the same level as Aziz and as Christian Harris no he's not now if Christian Harris is unable to play that's going to change the story a little bit but I do think we're going to see a lot of three safety two linebacker looks from the Texans as you know aiz Al Shire and Christian Harris these are guys who play sideline to sideline they're all over the place uh they got you know great instincts on the ball and I think that if you go with that three safety look you then can utilize Jaylen closer to the line and utilize uh Bullock as your center fielder per se and I think that g gives them more speed more flexibility uh ability to match up differently uh with the offense uh when they start you know trying to go into different formations I think gives them more flexibility I don't know that that's something that happens right off theat but I do think as we get you know through the first four or five games of the season I think we will see more of that three safety alignment how do you feel about Jimmy Ward you think Jimmy Ward is in a position where uh his he's safe I think Jimmy's making the team I think the biggest with Jimmy is gonna be healthy right I I think that I think that was a big part of the issues that jayen Petri had a year ago was that he was being asked to learn a new system and he's being told hey look the guy who's going to be next to you he's going to be your leader he's going to be the quarterback but he wasn't there and because of that you had a lot of none of these other guys had ever played in the system I think they just didn't know what to do a lot of times I think their communication struggled I think that ultimately led to their confidence wavering and just being out of position not knowing who to hand off to and when and I also think it wound up putting Jaylen in positions that he's not best to succeed in I think if Jimmy is healthy and able to play uh it it really changes the entire back of the defense he's the quarterback back there he's the guy who's you know calling the plays he's the guy who's getting guys in position he's the one who's who's kind of you know directing traffic back there and when he's not there you see the leadership void uh that that winds up being there without him but now they're rolling in the system for a second year so so they should be able to overcome uh the communication issues they should be able to overcome you know who's supposed to be where and when if Jimmy's not there but I do think if he is there the defense is is so much better if he's on the field I don't think he's in danger of losing his roster spot but I do think that uh last year his absence really hurt the Texans defensive secondary and I'm hoping that this year uh they would be better capable of how to conduct uh playback there without it I think Jimmy is the like there's three levels on defense right defensive line linebacker DBS I think he's the captain of the DBS I truly do but what worries me about Jimmy as he gets older he missed a lot of time last year and when you miss a lot of time that's starts putting things in other people's heads the higher ups like okay is does he still cuz your best ability is your availability so if he can't stay healthy this year I'm wondering do you move Kellen uh bulock to where he is or maybe Petri back to where he is and that kind of if they play well together does that take Jimmy off the field right I agree with you he's going to be on the roster he he's the captain of the DBS back there every time he talks it makes me want to you know listen like okay he he knows he knows he's talking about he he gets me excited he's a fun guy um but that Health part worries me a tad bit um because you're right when he left the field the communication was an issue the Comm the the the not knowing what's going on the different coverage he was the veteran when it comes to being in that particular defensive style he was the veteran in in that moment right he was he was the guy missing out there um but you hopefully in year two like you mentioned in the same defense um these guys can can know where uh kind of the mishaps for last year and be better this year but Jimmy's a a big piece I think coming into this year that if he's healthy he's going to be great if he's not I'm a little bit worried so Jimmy got you ready to turn in your teens number for a 20s number just a little bit just a little bit but uh you know listen I think they have a lot of talent I've Kamari Lasser has really I mean he has really equated himself well uh during Camp so far and he has gone after it with Stefon Diggs he's gone after Nico yeah uh you know they've they they've gone at him and and and they have you know thrown their best receivers at him and he's he's in there he's fighting and and you love to see that from a rookie that he's he's not backing down he's not afraid he will go up there and he will challenge their best receivers and and he this is this is just you know normal course of action for him that's what you want to see from a guy that you drafted high in the second round right but that's what you want to see out of a guy that plays a cornerback position that's one of the hardest positions to play you're playing backwards against some of the best athletes in the world you have no idea what they're doing you got to kind of react and and go out there and compete but he's going out there competing every single snap every single down he's excited he's into the game he's not backing down from Big names from guys just got paid from 10year veterans has been the most durable one of the best receivers in the league he doesn't care who you are his nickname is lockdown and he plans on locking you down every single time he steps up to to the PL now I I love that about him I love his attitude um and it's contagious it's it's really is contagious when you see him out there competing that way and I think what's going to help him what help to me what helped uh Derek Stanley last year was having a veteran presence um off the field which was Jonathan Joseph last year right helping him in in was his technique and details stuff like that but now that Derek has had some big- time success in the NFL he's given all his knowledge to a guy like Kamari he's going to just continue to ascend so I'm excited to see Kamari man I want to see him go against some of the best guys in the league weekend and week week out um and the pressure not going to be on Kamari the pressure going to be on Stingley in my opinion so if you're the number two guy you the pressure is on Stingley he'll probably if he if they if they choose to follow Stingley will follow the best guy right Stingley will have the the most um pressure on him whereas Kamar you go out there and you playing you just go out there and play against the number two number three guy play your best compete I mean just listening to the miked up of uh Deo Ryan the other day and how excited he was and the stuff he was saying about Kamari like hey that kid comes to compete every single day every single bre he's out there competing to the height he doesn't care who you are that's what you want from a cornerback man somebody has like a a blind to the name tag on the back of your jersey and say hey I'm I'm coming at you no matter what and that's what he's been doing every day at practice s so you mentioned you know Kamari Lasser goes by the locksmith and he wears the little lock the the pad lock on his on his chain so let me ask you where do you stand on guys giving themselves nicknames I'm against it I'm 100 110% against self-giving nicknames I like to I like the guy I feel you have to earn your nickname somebody has to give you the nickname whether it's tank because he had a big head his mama said he had a big head when he was younger that's why his name is tank um or whatever it is but you had to be given a nickname now if you give yourself a nickname you better live up to it like you you better live up to it and so so far it's been good for Kamari so he gets a thumbs up in a half for me so it's okay to give yourself a nickname as long as you earn it if you earn it if you earn it because if not we got other nicknames for you and they're not GNA be pleasant they are they are what we call [Laughter] derogatory I distinctly matter uh remember a former uh cornerback for the New York Giants named Elvis Patterson who had the worst nickname a DB could ever have oh wow toast what his nickname was toast was that from him getting toasted getting to oh yeah he got oh that's terrible no that's terrible that was the worst nickname you could ever have his nickname was toast Terri because he always got burnt terrible terrible Lord have mercy all right Cecil you know Thursday is the Hall of Fame game and the Texans are going to have their very first Hall of Famer get inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton in Andre Johnson uh as someone who played the wide receiver position in the NFL for six years uh who is a former Texan wanted to get your thoughts on Andre Johnson going into the Hall uh his credentials for going into the hall and what it means for the Texans franchise and their fans to finally see one of their own go in with the gold jacket Andre Johnson honestly uh in Jacksonville I used to study his film a lot because we play each other twice a year right so you kind of see the defensive side of the ball but when you when I was playing in Jacksonville he was obviously one of the best receivers in the NFL um and my Dimensions weren't the same as his Dimensions I just liked his game um his physicality um him being that size 63 220 plus pounds and be able to run any route on the route tree you don't see that mostly if you're if you're a taller bigger guy you're limited in what you can do right if you're based on your size you kind of can guess what the guy can do he could do it all and I was always told this is Chris Carter actually told me this who actually I believe is the one that gave Andre Johnson his gold jacket knocked on his door and gave it to him in his in his home I was told by Chris Carter um the Hall of Fame means they cannot tell the story of the game in your eror within your air without mentioning your name they cannot tell the story of the game and the time period that you played without mentioning your name in the time period that he played there's no way absolutely no way you could talk about anybody in the receiver position without mentioning Andre Johnson one of the best receivers to ever play the game Super consistent um I'll never forget one of my favorite games of his actually I was on the other team um 2012 I think it was Jacksonville Jaguars versus Houston Texans and Justin Blackman was on the Jacksonville Jaguars with me he went off for like 20 30 something yards um and then Andre Johnson went off for like 20 almost 50 yards and a couple touchdowns and he ended the game on a screen pass for like 50 yards and the Houston crowds going nuts in overtime going nuts ended the game like that and when you have a guy that's so humble doesn't say much to the media doesn't say much to um you know doesn't it's kind of like the opposite of the DEA Receiver right it's a hard worker going to bust his butt going to show up and play make the tough catch goes over the middle is it was literally nothing on the field he cannot do one hand catch two hand catch feet catch gets pounded by T tons of people in the middle of the field still running and tumbling and and getting in the end zone he was just a special human being and um I think it gets overlooked I think he should have been in first ballot that's just my humble opinion but it gets Overlook how special he was his numbers speak for itself I mean literally speaks for itself he didn't play with the All-Star no offense to matab or anybody else but he didn't play with a uh Hall of Fame quarterback he didn't and he was still making these plays it didn't matter who was covering him it didn't matter who was against him it doesn't matter what was again what weather he was in who they were playing against double team triple team he was going to make the play he was going to come down with the football and the crazy thing about it with those type of players you know they're going to get the ball and you still can't stop him you know the game plan is hey we're going to get Andre Johnson the ball when you go into a game week right they call him game Breakers so I'm playing against Andre and it's a it's a Wednesday the first official day of the week right and it's on the screen Andre Johnson you got to stop him they're going to give him the ball this with different ways he has this many yards so far this many catches and you still can't stop him unbelievable now after the game after I retired and he ended up I actually came to Houston when he was leaving um he finished up in the thing in Tennessee and and and the Colts but when I was there I mean when I mean the teammates his teammates loved him I literally loved him the coaches loved him it was like wait I'm like so why did he leave like why did he ever like what's going on they they could not say nothing bad about I've never heard not from one person anything bad about Andre Johnson and that just speaks to the human being that he is um and what he's done for the community now the fan the the the the Houston Texan Community everybody that loves the Texans the McNair the organization um they have they have done nothing but honor him man and and I'm sitting there watching it and it's like uh a humbling experience for me how much they show their appreciation for Andre and how much Andre really is loved by the city um so for him to be the first Hall of Famer in Texans history it could be no better person it could be no better player um there probably nobody more deserving right now now than Andre Johnson so it's going to be exciting to see him um Thursday night I'll be at the game him get to walk out and be acknowledged but on top of that being uh the following day I think th Friday or Saturday um really being inducted into the Hall of Fame it's going to be pretty cool of course there's only one reason why Andre Johnson ever left the Texans rhymes with schmill o' cryan yeah man that was crazy hey we we think that you're going to be a number three receiver and get like 500 yards this year yeah that that didn't quite go over with Andre can't imagine why n man especially after he was coming off a season where he had 85 catches for 936 yards and uh as being told yeah we think that you're like at best a third receiver and we're gonna you know push you down and you know Andre Johnson uh five times uh over a 100 catches twice led the league in catches he was seven times over 1100 yards receiving twice led the league in receiving three times led the league in yards per game uh seven Time pro bowler and a four-time all proo and as you mentioned he did this without the benefit of a Hall of Fame quarterback or even without a you know all proo quarterback yeah uh Matt sha and and again I think Matt sha had a had a very nice career in the NFL but Matt sh was the best quarterback he ever played with yep and you know a lot of other guys who put up the uh kind of big numbers I mean Andre is what uh 11th in in yardage and 10th in receptions all time yeah uh most everybody ahead of him played with a meast star future Hall of Fame quarterback Andre did not have that Andre is what we called quarterback proof it didn't matter who the quarterback was Andre was going to get his yards yeah uh you you couldn't stop him regardless I mean you you know could you know gone and grabbed the uh quarterback in North Dakota State Andre was gonna get 100 yards and I think that's one of the things that is indicative of the greatness of Andre Johnson was that he was not dependent on a great quarterback he made the quarterback better and you know there are some other guys who I think are very deserving of being in the Hall of Fame guys like Reggie Wayne guys like Tory Holt uh who who were great great receivers but their quarterbacks were stars yeah they did not have to make their quarterback better you know their quarterback probably helped to make them better Andre never had that he made everybody he played with better and I think that is very much indicative of why he is someone wearing a gold jacket uh and is going to be inducted on Thursday formally and other guys who I think are are also very deserving are not quite there yet couldn't agree more he is former Houston Texans wide receiver six-year NFL veteran Cecil SCH III I am Patrick Ron host of Area 45 on Sports Radio 610 your Flagship home of the Houston Texans make sure you like And subscribe to the believe in Texans podcast wherever you get your podcasts and uh Cecil this game is going to play on Thursday um Friday sounds like a good day to have another podcast absolutely recap look forward to the next episode of the believe in Texans podcast on Friday afternoon we will look forward to the Texans playing on Thursday night the Hall of Fame game look forward to Andre Johnson uh being formally inducted as the very first member of the Houston Texans organization into Canton and we will see you on Friday until then go Texans