Houston Texans

Andre Johnson spends $20,000 on Christmas for Houston kids

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

In an annual tradition, former Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson opened up the checkbook and paid for Christmas for group of young kids.

Former NFL star Andre Johnson retired from the game back in October, but he is still a huge influence to a lot of people in Houston. On Wednesday, he participated in a favorite holiday activity of his: taking care of Christmas for a few lucky kids.

He took a group of 12 young kids to a Toys ‘R Us in southwest Houston and told them they could have anything they wanted in the store, as long as they could grab it in 80 seconds. That was his jersey number while he played for the Texans, and he used it to spread some awesome holiday cheer.

Andre Johnson does it again…$19,144.58 spent on toys for kids in Houston this morning. Love this. pic.twitter.com/U6qx9ibMZI

— Daniel Gotera (@DTGoteraKHOU) December 7, 2016

According to ABC-13 in Houston, the kids were selected by Child Protective Services to participate in the event. Johnson has sponsored the giveaway in each of the last nine years, and gave his thoughts.

When you grow up in certain situations, you kind of understand. So there were times when I was not able to get what I wanted for Christmas. So I know that a lot of kids don’t get they want for Christmas. This idea was brought to me and I just kind of took it and ran with it.

When the damage was done, the bill for 12 kids came to $19,144.58 for 80 seconds of bringing holiday spirit to them. It’s an incredible gesture from Johnson, who has been open recently about re-signing with the Texans so he could retire in Houston.

Johnson wrapped up his playing career with the Tennessee Titans after spending the majority of his career playing in Houston. He also spent the 2015 season playing for the Indianapolis Colts. He is a 7-time Pro Bowl attendee and led the Texans in career receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns.