Guess What: Andre Johnson Is A Hurricane

Then again, who isn't?

As you all know, Monday is a time for thankless labor, daydreaming about the end of the week and – in my case – unabashed hero worship brought to you in part by one of the 46* Miami Hurricanes currently playing pro ball in the National Football League.

Forty-six. Hell, we have more Johnsons (3) playing on Sundays then some D-1 teams have total players, which is all the more impressive considering we’ve fallen on harder times than RJ Berger since the middle of last decade.

Now the The U isn’t so much a breeding ground for talent as it is a four-year layover.

Guys used to get better playing in green and orange – novel concept, I know. To give you some idea of how bad it’s gotten, you need look no further than one Samuel “Next Irvin” Shields, a highly touted recruit who was stifled so terrifically that he’d forget how to catch and move to DB by his senior year.

Now he’s a central piece of the Packers’ nickel package, and already moving up the depth chart after week one.

I’m sorry we did this to you Sam. You, undrafted sir, make me exceedingly proud.

One more. Here’s what NBC Sports wrote last week about Coker/Shannon casualty Darryl “I’m Always in the Wrong Place, Even Though I Was Smart Enough to Turn Down Stanford” Sharpton:

I was real excited to see Sharpton on the field as I liked what I had heard from talking to Miami fans about him. And what was said about him seemed to be legit. The dude is a hell of a hitter, a good tackler (he led the defense with seven tackles) and showed he had good hands on an interception. As I predicted after the draft on Luv Ya Steel Blue, the guy is going to become a quick fan favorite. In fact there are already bandwagons popping up in Texans nation calling for him to start at the vacant LB position that Brian Cushing will leave for the first four games of the season.

(*screams into pillow/flings laptop clear across apartment*)

Anyway, my random U bitchfest – a common phenomena these days – shouldn’t distract from the central thesis of this post: namely, that Andre Johnson is a monster, a worldbeater and a man amongst boys, much like he was covering kickoffs at the tender age of 19. And Sunday might have been his very finest moment.

Check that. Second finest moment.

Finest moment.

Dre finished Sunday’s late afternoon game against the ‘Skins with a ho-hum 12 catches for 158 yards, passing 600 and 8,000 career, respectively, in the process. Yawn (still behind Wayne and Irvin). He also moved into third all-time with 15 10+ reception games. Bigger yawn (still behind Rice and Harrison).

The impressive part was when he outleaped a tremendously overmatched Washington defender in the left corner of the endzone to nab the game-tying touchdown with 2:01 left.

After sitting out most of the second half with a bum ankle.

Btw, he just turned 29.

Said SC-favorite Tony Kornheiser in a D.C.-induced rage this morning, “The reason you take Andre Johnson is BECAUSE HE CANNOT BE STOPPED!” I agree, Tone. And so do the Lions, who whiffed on him once upon a time in favor of Charles Rogers (not to be confused with Jerome McDougle, William Joseph or Willis McGahee, who were also taken in the first round of the ’03 draft).

Guy’s a freakshow. And since we more or less used to be neighbors, I have a couple quick anecdotes to pass on from his youth – you know, before he became the second guy ever to lead the league in receiving back-to-back years (but after he won the Big East Outdoor 100 Meter Championship in 10.59).

1) Taking over for Santana Moss and Reggie Wayne in ’01, Dre caught 37 passes for 682 yards as a sophomore on his way to Rose Bowl co-MVP honors. He bumped those totals the next year to 52 and 1092. The reason? Well, besides experience and 20 pounds of extra muscle… the guy could finally see. Apparently it took the Coker brain trust a full year to discover Johnson needed contacts, despite his continued complaints of blurry vision (fully explains the exams cheating). Talk about a red flag – we knew then and there that Larry Coker was overmatched running a Dairy Queen let alone the premier college program in the country.

2) Terrell Owens is on the Coral Gables campus during the ’02 season doing a photo shoot for one of his endorsements. The ‘Canes are pumped to have a superstar in their facilities – even more so upon spotting him from a distance standing on the practice field. A couple players approach this muscle-bound, NFL Adonis from behind. T.O. turns around, only it’s not T.O. at all… It’s 21-year-old Andre Johnson.

Me and bff Dre.

- Robbie

*including a couple unsigned/practice squad players