Houston Texans

Andre Johnson find happiness after Houston

Published Jun. 1, 2015 12:28 p.m. ET

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After 12 years and seven trips to the Pro Bowl, wide receiver Andre Johnson knew his time with the Houston Texans was over.

But it wasn't during the offseason meeting where head coach Bill O'Brien informed Johnson he'd have a reduced role in 2015, though that served as final confirmation.

In a wide-ranging interview with Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star, Johnson discussed the end in Houston and what led him to sign with the Colts. Johnson says he knew he was done with the Texans just after the season-finale last December.

"The reporters asked me if it was my last time in a Texans uniform, and I told them no," Johnson said. "But deep down inside I knew it was."

According to Keefer, Johnson made his way around the Houston locker room, telling teammates he wouldn't be back next season.

They looked at me like I was crazy," Johnson said. "They didn't believe me. They're like, 'No, man, you'll be here forever.'"

They were wrong. During his meeting with O'Brien the coach told Johnson he wouldn't be a full-time starter moving forward and would likely catch about 40 passes the next season.

"You should trade me or release me," Johnson reportedly told O'Brien. "Because if that's going to be how it is, you're going to have a player who's miserable."

The Texans released Johnson a few days later, making him a free agent.

"I think they wanted to go in a different direction and just didn't know how to tell me," Johnson said. "Deciding who was going to start six months before the season? I've never heard of that in my life. And I caught 85 balls last year. It didn't add up. Don't tell me what my role is going to be when we haven't even started workouts."

But while the ending in Houston may have been unpleasant, Johnson has found an ideal situation in Indianapolis.

As he enters his 13th season in the NFL, he'll finally be paired with a star quarterback in Andrew Luck and he's also reuniting with college teammate and friend Frank Gore in the Colts' high-powered offense. The fun has returned to football. Even his mother has noticed.

"The last few years in Houston, his voice would just be so dry, so quiet," Karen Johnson told Keefer. "Now he's so upbeat. He's always smiling. You can just feel the excitement."

And though he's playing in the same division as his old team, Johnson made it clear his excitement stems from winning and nothing else.

"This decision has absolutely nothing to do with the Texans," Johnson said. "This decision has everything to do with winning a Super Bowl."

(h/t Indianapolis Star)

Photo credit: Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports