J.J. Watt, Andre Johnson and Johnathan Joseph | Texans All Access

Texans Legends J.J. Watt, Andre Johnson and Johnathan Josephy reminisced about old times, talked about retirement and coming back, and a whole lot more on this GOAT Talk edition of Texans All Access.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
What's tapping? Everybody, Welcome into a Tuesday edition of Texans
All Access. I'm your host, Sean Harris, football and a
sideline reporter for your Houston Texans. It's another special night.
Last night it was Seth C. Payne Knight. Seth was
on with Mark and I and we had an absolute
last That was a blast. That was a really good time. Now,

(00:24):
Mark and I didn't get a chance to catch up
with our next guest, but I think you know him
justin James Watt. Yes, it was time for Goat Talk
and that means Jonathan Joseph and Andre Johnson alongside their
guests this week, j J Watt, it was really cool,
like just the first part of this to just hear JJ,

(00:46):
it's good to be on with you and hear Andre's voice,
JJ's voice and Jjo's voice all together is really cool.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
Here we go, JJ, Man excited to have you on TODA.

Speaker 3 (00:55):
Thank you. I'm very excited to be here. This could
go a lot of ways, a lot of ways.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Quick, quick, quick, look, I don't even know if he's JJ,
and that's in that new commercial.

Speaker 5 (01:03):
So JA tell us about just growing up, like a
little bit about your background.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
Yeah, I mean, obviously, I was one of three boys,
I was oldest one, so we always battled in the backyard,
and I think that's partially what made us better. My
dad was a firefighter, so he always taught us, you know,
work ethic, discipline, those types of things. My mom started
as a secretary at her company and worked her way
up to become the vice president of that company. So

(01:29):
my mom was hard on in school. My dad was
hard on some sports. And we just pushed each other
and tried to make each other better and mainly just
messed around, but became great athletes because of it. And
very very fortunate to have had an incredible support system
that got me to where I am.

Speaker 5 (01:45):
Always admirerd is from Afar like to have for your mother,
to have three men that played in the NFL like that,
that's to me, that's not heard of. Like you, you
you're happy for one person to make it right, but
to have three signs to play in the NFL. Tell
me what that was like in how like how you

(02:08):
felt about that?

Speaker 3 (02:09):
I appreciate. I think it's a testament to them, our parents,
because I think a they instilled in us the belief
that we could which from our high school. One person
that ever made it to the NFL. So it's not
like you have this crazy number of blueprints in front
of us, like one person in history. But our parents
always made us believe we could. And then the second

(02:29):
part of it was they taught us how to make
that a reality. They taught us how to work, They
taught us how to be disciplined. They taught us how
to take care of our studies and take care of
our practice and do the extra. So I think it
was that combination of building the belief in ourselves and
the work ethic to back it up.

Speaker 4 (02:47):
I got a chance to spend a week out there
with you guys in Wisconsin, and you know TJ and
them boys.

Speaker 2 (02:51):
Is young, and you know, you being a role model league.

Speaker 4 (02:54):
By example, did you have a fanthem like you know,
obviously he was put into that position, but did you
know that you naturally become a leader, you know, for
your brothers to fall into your footstep and obviously look
at the career TJ's having and things like that, Like
for me, it's kind of crazy just to think back.

Speaker 3 (03:08):
There there's a video of like me and Cush and
Connor borrowing training. Like when my first year in the
league and TJ's they are pushing prowlers with us, and
it's not on the video, but he'd puking off to
the side and coming back in and training with us,
like those types of experience. I guess I was probably
a little naive in thinking that, like it was just
expected that we were going to make it work. Like I,

(03:29):
like I knew they were going to be successful because
I watched them work and we didn't know anything else.
Like my parents, like I told you, they taught us
that if you have a dream and you go after it,
you can accomplish it. So it wasn't a matter of
can they make it to the NFL, it's when will they?
And it was I think it was just that and
then them being able to be around this, being able
to see you guys, like I wish you could see

(03:51):
some of the group chats of my brothers and I
because they tell stories about YouTube, like they tell stories
about k Jack, like telling me stories about Sean Coley
and like the softball game and all this stuff. Like
they lived their entire childhood watching you guys, and that's
all they've ever known.

Speaker 5 (04:07):
Did you have any offers coming out of high school
or how did heard.

Speaker 3 (04:15):
On one of the sights and I was a zero
star on the other. But so like in high school,
you have like that camp circuit. You go do camps
and you get offers. I got Mono in high school,
so I didn't get to do the camp circuit, but
I got a couple offers here and there. Wyoming was
my first offer, never forget it. Thought it was the coolest,
craziest thing ever. My dad got on a plane, flew
my tape out to Miami to Wyoming, put it on

(04:36):
the table, and then flew back home same day. And
they ended up offering me. And then a couple other
schools offered. But I was like that kid in the
candy store. I was like, I got an offer, let me.
Central Michigan offered and I went visited Brian Kelly and
I went ended up committing there. I had a long recruitment.
It was kind of crazy. I committed to Central Michigan.
Brian Kelly left for Cincinnati, so I committed to Minnesota.

(04:59):
Glenn Mason got fired, so then I just committed back
to Central Michigan. It was like, let me just go
go back to where I know. But then it was.
I started as a true freshman at tight end, but
we ran the spread. Tight end didn't do much, and
I could tell like they wanted to move me offensive
tackle because Joe Staley was a great player who did
the same thing. But that wasn't my destiny. Like I

(05:20):
just I knew that wasn't for me. I wanted to
make plays. I wanted to be able to control my
own destiny. And so I transferred to Wisconsin, walked on,
and the rest is kind of history.

Speaker 2 (05:30):
What made you go from Central Michigan to Wisconsin.

Speaker 3 (05:33):
Wisconsin was always a dream. I grew up there. I
grew up watching the Badgers. I grew up seeing Ron
Day and win the Rose Bowl. In Wisconsin, there's the
Green Bay Packers and there's the Wisconsin Badgers. That's what
you watch, and it's almost like it's a mythical, like
unattainable level, you know. And so when they told me
like I was too small out of high school and
they didn't have an offer, and they didn't even want

(05:54):
they didn't even have a walk on spot, I was
almost like, yeah, I get it, like you're Wisconsin. But
then after my first year at Central Michigan, I was
like I'm chasing my dream, like that's my dream. I mean,
at least go chase it. If I have to walk
on and I fail, at least I can say I
can live with myself and say I try.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
And you know, I'm fast forward a little bit talking
about when you got drafted, and I just want to
ask you about the story. I don't know if you
heard this story or not, but I'm gonna just tell
now because I remember when I came here and everybody
wanted to get Nan and be ost some more, and
they got me and Danielle Manny and then I just
remember hearing through the waves that they wanted to draft
Alden Smith or whatever, and obviously he went to the
forty nine ers and again that you slipped down and
I remember the people kind of booing or whatever, and

(06:34):
I wasn't really here for the draft because it was
a lockout. You you know, it was a weird year
that year, and it kind of happened fast, and just
me thinking back, like damn, they was booing, you know,
and now just.

Speaker 3 (06:44):
To look at it, they did bow. I didn't confirm,
but I get it.

Speaker 4 (06:48):
The draft is like, well West Constin you hear Wisconsin
you know you're looking for the SEC or whatever.

Speaker 3 (06:52):
Yes, they have no idea. Yeah no, So on Draft night,
I know that they in the spot that they wanted.
They were looking that like Prince of Mukermore. They were
looking at Nick Fairley like the fans were like they
wanted these guys. I think Nick Fairley was the National
Championship game and Retavoc and all these things. On Draft night,
I was sitting there and I had actually heard that

(07:13):
the Texans and the Cardinals were planning on trading picks.
The Cardinals had five and the Texans had eleven, and
I believe that the Texans were going to take Patrick
Peterson at five and then the Cardinals were going to
take me at eleven. Didn't end up working out for
whatever reason, and I ended up playing for both teams.

Speaker 5 (07:29):
Anyway, It's one of my greatest memories of you being
your teammate, and it was a play. It was our
first playoff game, the pick against Cincinnati. I tell people
all the time, I've never ever heard that stadium get
that loud ever in my life.

Speaker 2 (07:51):
And I played.

Speaker 5 (07:52):
You know I've been here for You're the only person
I ever really seen do that, Like just you come
out your stands and just pick a ball up, like what.

Speaker 2 (08:03):
How does that happen?

Speaker 3 (08:04):
Like it was partially because my pass rush was so
bad that I had to stand it a lot. I
didn't beat the guy in front of me, so I
just had to stand there and like, hope you threw
it my way, and then I almost tripped on my
way to the end zone. But for me, that was
my dances are embarrassing. It's really really bad. I watched

(08:25):
all these highlights and like, I'm like, someday, my son's
gonna watch these and he's gonna see some really cool
and then he's gonna see some embarrassing stuff. But that
I mean, that was obviously kind of like coming out party,
whatever you want, like for not only myself, but for
our whole squad, like maybe first ever playoff appearance, first
ever playoff win, like this city was on fire man,

(08:46):
And for me that was I tell people all the time,
like I played twelve years in the league, but those
first two years were the best I've ever been a
part of because of the chemistry that we had, because
of the squad that we had, how good we were.
It always crushes me that we didn't fulfill what I
believe our potential was because we were really something special

(09:07):
and those not only the stuff on the field, man,
but the locker room. We had such a great, great team. Yeah,
I tell people that all the time. I think for me.

Speaker 5 (09:19):
And I think you know, me and j Joe talked
about it a lot too, Like I think the thing
we miss is the locker room. Like you missed the
locker room. You missed the plane rides, the bus rides
and things of that nature.

Speaker 2 (09:31):
You know.

Speaker 5 (09:31):
With as far as playing the game, I don't have
to play it again, But when I get to be
around the guys.

Speaker 2 (09:39):
Is what we uh, you know what we miss about it.

Speaker 3 (09:41):
And we were on those small planes back then. Guys,
it was the guys sit right next to each other
middle like people now report cardsty but like that was
the best. It was almost better because you just didn't
care about anything else. We were just hanging out in
the back of the plane balling, and then after the

(10:02):
game you were just having a great time. Dude.

Speaker 4 (10:04):
It was you can't get that feeling bad, No, you
can never. I can never get to feeling a picture
and you and cushing against Kevin Johnson football and trash.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
That's yes, man, Like all those little things like I'll
never like we used to have the things between the
DB's and the D line where if we got sacks,
it was this. If you guys got picks, it was that.
Like there's just nothing better than coming in a Monday
after a win and it's just we're all just hanging out.
We have the donuts on Saturday morning, like you have
the dinners on Thursday nights. Just those are the best,

(10:34):
And those are the things, like you said, you missed
the most and that you can never get back no
matter how much you try and recreate it.

Speaker 5 (10:40):
There was a time where it just flipped for you
as a player. When did you feel like that moment was?

Speaker 4 (10:46):
That's what I was going actually, but because I missed it.

Speaker 3 (10:53):
It was. I can I can very distinctly tell you
when it was. And I've told this story a couple
of times, and I always preface it by and I
don't recommend this for people, but this is what it is,
what it was for me. So I came in as
a rookie and I started. They I was drafted eleven,
so they put me as a starter right away. And
I'll never forget Amobia Koy was incredible about it. He
was the guy before me, but he helped me learn, knowing

(11:16):
full well that I was taking his spot. MOBI was awesome.
But I came in and they put me in that
role right away, and I started to struggle a little bit,
like especially in the first few games, like I was
playing three technique and I was getting cut off by
the guard on these backsides. And so I got into
a game and I think it was the fourth game
of the season against the Ravens and Marshall Yondo's the
guard and I get cut off on this as a

(11:38):
three technique and I come off to the sideline and
Bill Colard just rips me to shreds. You guys know,
I mean, just rips me to shreds. I go out
the next series, same thing, just get cut off again.
I come back to the sideline. Colard just destroys me.
The third time. I get cut off again. I come
to the sideline. Colar looks at Cap, our trainer, and
goes Cap take his helmet away. He's never going back

(11:59):
in this game. So I'm sitting there on the sideline
like as a rookie, just dejected, like I suck at football.
My coach hates me. I'm never gonna play again. This
is the worst thing ever. We get on the flight,
we go home. On the way home, I literally lived
at the old Spanish Trail apartments right over here. So
I stopped with the cross off of the grocery store
right over here. I pick up a twelve pac and
I go to my house. I'm like, this sucks. I'm

(12:20):
just going to drink by myself. So I go and
I drink by myself. And I ended up cutting on
some high school highlights just because I was like, I
need to feel good about myself, like that I can
play football. So I started cutting out some high school highlights.
I start cutting on some college highlights and I'm getting
like seven or eight deep here, and all of a sudden,
I'm like, you know what you got. You can be
this as want. But that guy, that guy, I'm good

(12:41):
at football, like those guards like I'm good at football,
Like if I'm going to go out. I was trying
to be so perfect with my technique, with my hands,
with my feet, I was trying to do it exactly
how we taught on every single play. And I finally
that night, probably because of the libations, I was like,
just go out there and play man. If you get
cut and if you don't make it, at least do
it your way. And so then I started playing a

(13:02):
little more free uh, and they started giving me a
little more freedom. But it was a combination of Then
Bill would reined me in with I gave some of
my freedoms, and then he was able to rain me
back in and teach me the technique that I needed,
and somehow it magically married up and turned into a
great player. But Bill Kohlar absolutely hated him for about

(13:23):
the first eight weeks of my NFL career and now
I love him like, you know, a best friend, and
I'm so thankful for him. And then I got to
give credit to Wad Phillips. Wade Phillips was an unbelievable
man to play for and gave me so much confidence
that I never would have had if it weren't for him.

Speaker 4 (13:37):
Trust me, I had to go to back for you.
And as funny as it sounded like, dre No, you
know when you first took off every question everywhere you
go man at that white where we did that go
and trust me, hey, I got to enjoy out him.
You know, I'm going back and running through practice. I'm
looking at the one on ones. I love to watch it,
you know what I mean. So for me as a
player playing with you, I just got to let you

(13:57):
know just how I appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
Was like you made my job easier every time we
took the field.

Speaker 4 (14:01):
And now, looking back on it, like you said, I
don't even know when it took off, because before I knew,
it was seventeen sacks, eighteen twenty back to back to back,
and then they put you on offense. People see some
of the interceptions in the game. I had to watch
you destroy some of my defenders in practice. I was like, man,
this dude is getting.

Speaker 3 (14:16):
Out of hand. No, I gotta tell you guys man
like you Jack d Man, like all the guys in
the back end, like for a defensive lineman. It makes
our jobs so incredibly easy. And I think that was
the beauty of why Wade Phillips defense works so well.
Wade loves cover one like he wants to run cover one.
He wants to run man a man, you can't do
it if you don't have dogs at corner. And we
had you and j Jo and guys out there shutting

(14:37):
people down. So for me, it was sack City because
I just got to eat. I give a ton of
credit to you guys. I always talk about obviously Aaron
Donald's an unbelievable player. He played in the Wade Phillips
system as well. Same thing like dogs on the back end,
let the front end eat, and that's when football is
really fine. But I remember when it's chance.

Speaker 4 (14:55):
You thought you can just walk around like you say,
you win in the grocery store, got a twelve pack,
and then all of a sudden it became you couldn't
even go the gallery of the moment.

Speaker 2 (15:00):
Yeah, talk about how they felt.

Speaker 3 (15:02):
It was a little wild because you know, I'm a
kid from Wisconsin. I come down to Houston. I've never
been here before, and so I'm going to Cavenders and
they're getting my cowboy hat and cowboy boots, like I'm
walking around AGB like getting my groceries. And then I
think it was probably like I mean, it was definitely
the playoff game after that, where like you go to
AGB and you're like, all right, this is taking like

(15:22):
an hour and forty five minutes to get my groceries
because everybody wants pictures. And then it just kind of snowballed,
and then you're doing the commercials and then everything starts
to blow up, and nobody can ever prepare you for
how to handle it, like nobody could have ever taught
me or told me how to handle it, because you
just kind of have to experience it. And there's definitely
certain things that I would look back on and like,

(15:45):
having the wisdom I have now, I would handle them
differently and I would do things differently. But I also
realized the life I have is because of it, and
so I'm unbelievably grateful. I have a connection with the
city of Houston, Texas that never in my wildest dreams
would I imagine that to hear would be I feel
like family. But every time I get here and I
step off the plane or I walk around, it truly

(16:07):
truly feels like family. And I think you guys probably
feel that the same, like something about it. They've embraced me,
And I'm so grateful, grand Is.

Speaker 4 (16:14):
We flew back on that plane from the empty the
music Awards.

Speaker 2 (16:18):
We should have partied that night.

Speaker 3 (16:20):
You're right, You're right. One of those things, one of
those things like where I'm like, did you really need
to get back that night, like like I was like,
there's a lot of stuff like that that I looked
at where I'm like, all right, so why were you
so tough? Didn't matter on March thirtieth that you were
in the gym. You couldn't have couldn't have had one
night with your boys in Nashville the country. Yeah, Like

(16:44):
I got a jet, I brought a bunch of the
guys and then like I was like, no, we got
to get back from the train. The next day. Everybody's like, dude,
just let us party, and I was like, no, we
need to get back.

Speaker 5 (16:55):
So y'all went from the show Street.

Speaker 3 (16:58):
I remember, come on party like yeah, like stupid, Yeah,
talk about stuff that you look back on. You Arnold
Swartz Niggas asking Ben Jones to come party with Ben
Jones doing an Arnold impression back to him, and I'm saying, no,
let's get back here playing.

Speaker 5 (17:20):
That's crazy because that was the part anywhere. Yeah, I know,
I was a little jealous. I see y'all guys on
that trip. I didn't get to make that trip.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
I think I was big into the Country Music Awards.

Speaker 2 (17:33):
No, I'm not digging too it. I just wanted to go.

Speaker 3 (17:34):
To it was it was fun man who we had,
We had Coursery had Ben Jack Jack, this is.

Speaker 5 (17:41):
A good trip of a trip. I would always see
you like stay after practice, like I remember. I think
it was the Hard Knocks thing, and it was one
like they showed you like staying after practice. And I
I was in Indie, I think at the time when
that the Hard Knocks was here, and I got like, man,

(18:03):
is he really liked that? Like you know, like does
he like really do that? And I'm like yeah, like
he worked his ass off, Like yeah, so what what
what do you.

Speaker 2 (18:14):
Think that came from? Like what you know? What made you?

Speaker 3 (18:19):
I think part of it is how I was raised,
Like I said, my parents, that's what they taught me. Literally,
they taught me like you're being you want to be great,
work to be great, put in the work. And then
once I got to the NFL, it was people are
paying millions of dollars, fans are watching, like you better
go out there and earn that. So there was that
in me, But then there was also the part of
me that felt that obligation to this place, to my teammates,

(18:42):
to the city, that I had to be that person.
And now I fully understand that people would question it.
Some people look at it called cheesy whatever it is,
and there's there's definitely some cheesy that I'm like, like
you were, you were a little cheesy. But the one
thing that was never cheesy was the work. Like there
might be some things with you know, trying to act
like Captain America and some of like the squeaky clean

(19:05):
image and all that, but the work was never a joke.
Like that was always true because I and it probably
was a part of my downfall, honestly, with some of
my injuries. Like I thought I was superman. I thought
that I could lift every weight in the gym. I
thought I could run routes with the receivers. I thought
I could do sprints with the DB's squad like like

(19:25):
I just thought, like and like when I when I
got injured, I was like, oh, I'm going to be
back faster than anybody in history has ever been back.

Speaker 5 (19:31):
You want to know the crazy thing, It's funny you
bring that up about you felt like you can go
through anything. I remember when you dislocated your elbow in
training count and I I could remember it so vividly.
It was like you could hear a rap his own car.
Everybody got so quiet, like the fans everybody, and I'm

(19:53):
sitting there. I'm like, oh, like this just this just
didn't happen. But I remember seeing you in the training
room and it was like a couple of days later
push up and I'm like, that's no, what do from
the pounce back, like like he's doing push up. You
literally just just located a couple of days ago and

(20:15):
now you're doing push ups.

Speaker 2 (20:16):
So it's just like, what what was it? Like? You
just always felt like you can always come back?

Speaker 3 (20:23):
Man. I thought I was superman. I'm telling you, like,
especially then because I did so so that day that
was Miane Cushion plane linebacker, your foster playing running. I
saw it. I was unbelievable. He literally ran through. My
arm was in the worst position if you saw two
trains coming down the track. I just stuck my arm

(20:44):
between both of them, and Arian came this way and
Chris came this way, and my arm was right here
and just poof, so my elbow facing the other way.
Calf Our trainer comes out and he's like, oh, yeah,
that's this okay, And I'm like, no, caf is facing
the wrong way, and he goes, all right, I'm gonna
put it back in. He goes to put it back in,
bone on bone he missed, and then he goes to
put it back in again. He gets it in. He goes, oh, wow,
this was my first time doing that. I was like, yeah,

(21:05):
I can tell you missed the first time, dude. So
then I got to go to the hospital and get
on my MRIs or anything. But like you said, they
pop it back in. Basically tell me I have no
tendons left, but we're not going to fix it because
I'm not a picture so I don't need the tendence.
I don't know any better. So I'm like, all right.
Two days later, I'm like, let me just see how
I feel. I do a push up on the desk
and then they call doctor Lowe over and doctor low

(21:26):
watches me do a push up and he's like, I've
never seen that before, and so me, I'm like, damn right,
you haven't, Like, damn right, you haven't seen that before,
Like wait till you see what I'm about to do.
And he's like, well, there's no way you're gonna be
ready for the first week. But I think in a
couple weeks. I was like, funny, fuddy, I got this.
And then I think that just honestly built my confidence

(21:47):
for that and some of my naivity and innocence and stupidity,
because I just from that point forward, I was like,
nothing can stop me. I'm fine.

Speaker 2 (21:56):
Man.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
I had never heard JJ tell that story. If I don't,
Jae's ever told that story. I did not know that
was the case, man. That was That was some awesome
stuff talking about his elbow injury early in his career,
and an of course, he wore that brace for the
remainder of his career as a crutch he leaned on
but kind of liked it. He looked badass with it too.

(22:17):
Call all kinds of footballs. I saw something posted on
Twitter today for my buddy Ben Finel, who works for
ESPN CBS. There's a lot of different stuff NFL films,
and he posted a tweet from five years ago was
during COVID. He was like, man, jj Watt could have
been one hell of a tight end. JJ Watt was
a great tight end. He was incredible and the video
below was him going one on one against Christian Kirksey

(22:39):
against the Browns at twenty fourteen, which was incredible one
on one WAT against Kirksey and what makes a great
fade catch in the end zone.

Speaker 2 (22:48):
It was.

Speaker 1 (22:48):
He was incredible. He was absolutely incredible. There's no doubt
about that. All Right, we got more with JJ and
Andre and j jo on Goat Talk coming up next
on Texans All Access. Stappen, everybody, Welcome back to Tuesday
edition of Texans All Access from that Texans radio studio.
I'm your host, Jean Harris, football analyst, sideline reporter for
your Houston Texans and it is ninety nine's night I

(23:13):
go Talk, So that means we get J Joe and
Andre Johnson as well. When we left the discussion, JJ
talked about his elbow injury. Well, Andre took it a
little further discussing this injury, and Cush took some strays.
Brady James took some strays. This is great stuff, as
Andre recalled that moment when JJ injured his elbow early

(23:37):
in his career.

Speaker 5 (23:38):
Yeah, Bro, I swear like I could remember very vividly.

Speaker 2 (23:44):
I remember seeing Cush run through your arm because.

Speaker 5 (23:47):
I wasn't even in on the plate when it happened,
so I remember I'm staying on the sideline and when
I saw it, I'm like, oh no, like I know,
this just didn't happen.

Speaker 3 (23:55):
Right, I remember you talking about it.

Speaker 5 (23:57):
Right, yeah, I'm like you gotta think thinking. I'm like,
why could you do that? Like I'm pissing because I'm like,
think about thinking about that squad. But it was I
think we were we were doing like a live.

Speaker 3 (24:13):
So I was tackling think about that craziness of that
sentence along like you got Brian Cushing, Arian Foster myself.

Speaker 4 (24:19):
But I remember correctly, who's really coming down here, Brady James.

Speaker 3 (24:27):
Brady James. I love some Brady James. I never forget
because when that happened, when I just okay, elbow coolar
looked like he was going to cry. And that was
the first moment that I was like, this guy actually
cares about me.

Speaker 5 (24:39):
I was like, yeah, you know what, he's all right
when that happened, And and that's that's when I'm like,
you already taken off at that time in your career,
but like when that happened, just to see the way
that people reacted, like everybody was like like all right,
because you know, we were thinking like he's going to
be out for some games. You know, we don't know

(25:00):
when he had come back, but to see you doing
pushups like a few days later, I'm like.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
Well, that was also a few days after Wade. I
always give Wade credit for this. Wade before my second
season ever started. So I mean this was like I
had a decent end of the rookie year, but I
hadn't done anything crazy yet. And Wade had told the
media like He's going to be a bust, not a
first round bus, but a Hall of Famer. And I
read that, literally read it in the paper, and I

(25:25):
was like, Wade Phillips like coach, Reggie White, like coach.
He just said, I'm going to be a Hall of Famer.
There's something about when somebody you look up to believes
in you, and like it's kind of like I told
you my parents before. When they put that they bestow
that upon you, you all of a sudden have no choice
but to become a bigger version of yourself and fulfill

(25:48):
that destiny. And so I always give Wade credit because
he put a belief in me that I didn't even
have myself at that time, and all I wanted to
do was make him right. They also told me he
stood on the table for me to get drafted here
on my whole career. I just wanted to prove way
right and make him proud of me. We and Brady
James was actually on the plane we were coming from
a game, and he came over to me. We were

(26:12):
just talking and he was like, it was like, Dre.
It was like, j jj gonna be that dude. And
I'm like, I'm like really like he was like, no, Dre.
He was like, Drake, he that good. And I never
shared that with you until now.

Speaker 5 (26:29):
But we were coming up with I can't I can't
remember where we were coming from. I think it might
have been a preseason game or something, but it was early,
like in the in the year, and he we was
sitting on the plane and we were just talking and
he shared that with me, and it's it's crazy, like
you say, you don't know, just people having that belief
in you, it gives you so much confidence to you know,

(26:51):
want to accomplish.

Speaker 2 (26:52):
Boy.

Speaker 3 (26:52):
Brady was Brady to me was a very underrated player
here because he doesn't get enough credit. Brady Arry, Yeah,
like aid from the leaderships standpoint, b those we were
top two, top three defense at that time, and a
big part of it was because Brady allowed me to
be me so like, I'm well aware that.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
I just always said that to me.

Speaker 5 (27:12):
He was like, Drake, I will let him do him
and I'm gonna fix whatever.

Speaker 3 (27:18):
Yes, it was unbelievable and he was so selfless about it.
And at the same time, I had Jared Creek on
the other side, who did the same thing. Quick knew
he was going to have back. He was like, I'm
not going to have these big sack numbers. I'm not
going to have anything flashy, but I'm going to push
the pocket on the other side. So you do what
you do on your side. And Brady was right behind
me the exact same thing. Rick, is this in the pocket.

(27:39):
I know damn well that quarterback is not going to
escape off crickside, so it's up to me to make
the play. But Brady was the same way. Like Brady basically,
he would stare at me and he'd be like, you
take whichever gap you want. I got the other one, right.
Not everybody's like that because everybody else wants their own numbers,
they want their own stats. But he knew that I
had those instincts to take that advantage and he had
my back and I'll never forget Brady for that. And

(28:01):
then I when I talk about Thursday dinners, I always
think about Brady James because he was like an older
vet at those Thursday dinners, literally sometimes teaching me how
to use which fork at a steakhouse, like how to
order oysters, like I never ord oysters before. He teach
me how to eat oysters, like Antonio Smith taught me
how to eat sushi for the first time. Like those
are the things you remember, you know. He took me

(28:23):
to Cada Robata for the first time ever. I'd never
eaten sushi before besides grocery store sushi. Now I scored
Colorabata once a week because it's my favorite restaurant in
the world. So like, those are the coolest things, man,
being at the top.

Speaker 4 (28:35):
Worst thing about sports is the entry part, you know,
And obviously when you the guy that's the first time
you probably feel like, well you excluded, all right, they
don't need me, They ain't talking to me as much.
Talk about that feeling, because you know, it takes to
be in their physition they actually understand it.

Speaker 2 (28:48):
What like you almost helpless.

Speaker 3 (28:50):
It's the worst feeling in the world, because not only
are you trying to physically heal and get yourself back,
but you feel like you're letting everybody down. And sometimes
you put that weight on your shoulders when not everyone's
even putting it on you, you're putting it on yourself.
So like I'm sitting there in the training room every
day while you guys are at practice, and I'm thinking, man,

(29:10):
I make a lot of money, I make a lot
of plays, like I want to help this. I want
to do anything possible, and right now I'm just a
sack of potatoes sitting on this table, And every day
I would just beat myself down, like thinking about that.
And it was every time a guy now gets injured,
I try and talk to them and teach them that
that's not the mindset to have, because like it's sports, everybody,

(29:34):
you're going to get in if you play long enough,
you're going to get injured. That's just how it goes.
So I really try. Now one of my biggest things
is helping young guys understand if they get injured, the
mindset and the mentality of it is just as important
as the physical part, because that will break you down.

Speaker 2 (29:48):
Man.

Speaker 5 (29:49):
I've just been some very very dark days game day,
when you know, when they would always give us, like
the two minutes before we would go out for warm ups.
I never put my shoulder pads on. It was like,
receive us two minutes, you know, and we'll go out.
That was like my switch. What was your switch?

Speaker 3 (30:07):
Well, first of all, you were always the coolest dude
in the room an it literally, you could be in
any room in the world and you're the coolest dude
in it. So I was never going to try and
compete on a cool aspect of that. But mine, It's
kind of funny because mine, I would always get so
hyped up before the game, too hyped up, way too
hyped up, and warm ups like jacked up. So after

(30:28):
warm ups when you come back in, before intros and
all that, I learned that I had to call myself down.
So I'd go in the training room, I'd put my
headphones on, I'd turn on a Dell because I just
needed Like, I was like, dude, you got it, You're
gonna lose all of your energy. So I go in,
I put on a Dell and I would just sit
there for like five six minutes, just listen to a
Den and be like, all right, calm down, It's all
gonna be good. As soon as I was done with that,

(30:50):
Connor Barman taught me this trick. I go into the
steam room. I put my helmet on, my shoulder pads on.
I go into the steam room because it helped. Like
you know how your helmets sometimes is a little stiff
when you first put it on. So he taught me,
if you go in the steam room, everything settles into
your body. And it really did, and so it kind
of lathered me up. And like I went out there,
I was like, last feel like I had like a
quarter under me, you know. So that's what I did.

(31:11):
And then I went out there and I mean the
crowd hits and they play turned down for watter or
like you make a play and then life just life
is good.

Speaker 2 (31:21):
Is there anything you wish you could do over? As?

Speaker 3 (31:25):
It takes a billion things? I always say like anybody
who tells you they don't have any regrets is either
lying or the perfect person. Because there's there's plenty of
things that I now do. I look at some things
and I learned from them, I grew from them. I
became a better person because of them. Absolutely, But There's
plenty of things I wish I would have done different,
and as you grow older, you have wisdom. I think

(31:46):
I could have been a better leader. I think I
could have been better about my injuries and my rehabs,
and being smarter about managing myself so that I could
stay on the field and be more useful. I think
I could have. You always say you don't realize the
good old days until they're the good old days. Like
appreciating every moment and understanding when I was in it

(32:09):
how special it was, and not running off after a
night of the Country Music Awards and like thinking you
have to sprint back to the weight room, like trying
to take it in. I do think there's a big
part of me that I missed out on really embracing
those moments and those memories. And I think that's probably
the biggest thing that I would do slightly differently, is
not not speed through it all.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
I remember I got you to come to New Year's party.
I did.

Speaker 5 (32:34):
Yeah, that might have been the first time I was
think you came about that. I remember, like I was
telling my friends, I was like, man, I'm gonna get
jaj and they were like, man, come I'm like, if.

Speaker 3 (32:49):
Andre tells me something, I'm gonna be there.

Speaker 4 (32:51):
But I get it now though, like back then, I
wouldn't think it.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
Like you Wisconsin.

Speaker 3 (32:58):
Have night clubs, man, have a lot going on. No,
you might not remember it, but the first time you
ever asked me somewhere. We went to Washington Street.

Speaker 5 (33:06):
Remember the guy yes, oh? Yeah, he wear oh. He
was like, do you know who? Know who the hell
that is? It was my rookie year and he was like,
let's go out. I literally like you're talking to me
and he was like yeah, so it's just me and Andre.
And I'm literally like sweating. I'm like, holy like, I'm
out with Andre.

Speaker 3 (33:25):
He's like, all We're gonna go to Washington and pull
up on Washington like, hey, if we go to the door,
the door man's like, I'm sorry, sir, you can't come in.
The shoes they were like all white yea. I literally
I was like what And he was like, he's like,
you can't come in, man. I go that's Andre. Johnson
was like that's Andren. He was like I don't care.
And all of a sudden, this manager came like sprinting

(33:46):
out of the back and he's like no, they're good.
They're psychopath Like we're in Houston, Texas, and you're gonna
tell Andre Johnson can't come in. He could be wearing
foot flops if he wants. Unbelievable. But I just I
don't think you know and appreciate what that meant to me,
you inviting me out as a rookie.

Speaker 5 (34:03):
Like I was talking to g Q Globe Quinn one
day and he told me he said, man, he said,
when I was a rookie, I should be scared to
speak to you. And I was like why, but he
was like, I remember you coming up to me and
saying good. I think he had got like a picking
practice or someone day and he said I walked by

(34:23):
him and like tapped him like the job, and he
was like he was like that gave him like confirmation
of like okay, like Dreke speaking to me, and I'm like,
I was the most You didn't speak. I didn't speak
in the locker room a lot, but I was okay
with my teammates like.

Speaker 3 (34:41):
Oh you you were great. But you guess the star
aspect of it. I think it's the superstar aspect of
but he's also a super But I would come j Joe.

Speaker 5 (34:51):
I would come and sit at a locker every day
and with him and Kjack and we would sit down
there and crack jokes every day after practice.

Speaker 4 (34:58):
When I was with the Bengals and when we signed, like,
I just say nothing fatilla for a while, though you know,
I talked to everybody, but like, I didn't know what
to say at first. I don't know how you're gonna react.
I don't know what I just see. He got this
look on his face.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
We all had that because you're up on a pedestal
first of all, and then you don't speak a lot
to begin with, so you're like, I'm definitely not saying
the first person to us, and he's probably not going
to say any words to me. So you're probably like, oh,
these guys don't talk to me that much. We're like,
he doesn't talk to us that much. We're just like
ships in the night passing by. And if you if
you tap me on the on the leg and said
good play, that would have been the same reaction. It's like,

(35:31):
it's just the same thing with Wade with me. You
did that to GQ and he probably was like, Andre
believes in me, So now I'm going to be like you,
you have that effect on everybody.

Speaker 4 (35:40):
Something that he wanted me here, and that's why I
want tell everybody all the time. I'm like, Drake wanted
me to come to Houston.

Speaker 2 (35:45):
Recruited him here.

Speaker 3 (35:46):
I didn't know that.

Speaker 5 (35:48):
So we had a mutual So Fred Bennett, who played
corner with me and they played together in college. We
were at the wedding and I see j Joe and
because we had played against each other whatever, and I
just went straight recruitment modes. We talked the whole week.

Speaker 3 (36:07):
And you never met before.

Speaker 5 (36:10):
Just across the other, yeah, but we never had like
met like, so I really got to know him that weekend.

Speaker 3 (36:16):
Like it was lockout to wasn't Yeah, it was lockout.

Speaker 2 (36:19):
Yeah and yeah, So he ended up.

Speaker 5 (36:22):
I went and told Rick, I'm like, hey, I think
I gotts, you know, so.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
I went right, they want me to come to Houston.

Speaker 2 (36:32):
You're involved part owner of a soccer team. How do
you get involved in that?

Speaker 3 (36:38):
I needed something to give me the adrenaline. You guys know,
like there's nothing like game day like having that adrenaline
or having something you're working towards. And so for me,
I knew I wanted something to fill that void. I've
always been interested in the soccer world. My wife obviously
played for a long time, but the European soccer game
really intrigued me and so I wanted to get involved

(36:59):
and I ended up finding the perfect situation and it
has fulfilled it to a tea because like every Saturday,
I got something to watch and you know, kind of
live and die with every kick, and you still get
that adrenaline, and almost more so because you're like, I
can't control anything, I can't make a play. I just
I'm hoping these guys make plays. But then in the
boardroom and a lot of the decisions, it's it's really
been enjoyable for me to learn it and to be

(37:21):
on that ownership side, to see a completely different world.

Speaker 2 (37:24):
How often do you get to go to the game.

Speaker 3 (37:27):
So last year I went to about ten to eleven games.
This year I've been to three or four. So I
go over there try and yeah, trying to get over
like four or five times a year because I'm truly
invested in it, like I'm I want to be in
I want to be deep into it so I can
know as much as possible and also.

Speaker 5 (37:44):
Show the people that I care how is it being
on TV now working with CBS.

Speaker 3 (37:48):
How is that? It's good?

Speaker 2 (37:50):
Man?

Speaker 3 (37:50):
It's good. Like I love still being around ball. I
love being able to talk football, Like it would be
very weird if I didn't have some tie to the
game because I love watching it, talking about it, breaking
it down. At the same time, I have a very
difficult time criticizing guys because, like I was on the field,
I know, like you got a guy who breaking down
film and he's drawing up the plays, and you're like,

(38:10):
that's not my assignment, that's not my jobs, and you
just threw all this blame on me on national TV.
So I never want to be that guy. So I'm
always very careful from that standpoint. But it has been
really really fun still being a part of the game.

Speaker 4 (38:23):
Obviously you can't going because that was pre you. What's
your favorite moment of Andre Johnson then a Texas man.

Speaker 3 (38:32):
I mean, we still need a statue of courting fingering outside,
Like if we don't get a statue of that, we
fail like that we can we can take his number
off of his back or taking him on, but that
has like we need the statue outside. I'll petition for
it to today. I'm like, we need that with me, man,
But I'm sorry.

Speaker 5 (38:54):
The crazy thing I tell people all the time. I
think I get asked about that every day of my life.
It's the most bad and it's crazy because I almost
get to a point to where you're just tired of
talking about But everybody, like they come in, they'd be like,
what happened?

Speaker 2 (39:12):
So you have to explain the story over and over and.

Speaker 3 (39:15):
Because it's you, like everybody who knows you knows like you.
You had to do something crazy to get that out
of Drake, Like you would never get that. But I
would say, for me in my career with you, that
one overtime play again as Jacksonville comes to mind immediately
where you took that. It was like a bubble screen
right taking out of the house, Like that was awesome

(39:38):
for me. It was like we were talking about before.
It's literally the locker room, like walking around the locker room,
walking around practice, walking around. I grew up as a
Miami fan. I don't know why because they were awesome
when I was a kid, but like it truthfully was
like seeing you in our locker room, knowing that I
was on the same team, knowing that we were teammates
and like buddies. To me, that was cooler than any

(40:00):
play on the field, just knowing that I was fortunate
enough to be able to play.

Speaker 2 (40:04):
What is the most thing you get asked as by fans?

Speaker 3 (40:07):
The first thing comes to mind is just selfie's an autograph,
because obviously that's I mean, it's it's daily lately, which
has been a transition, which is interesting. There's a lot
of people obviously asking about my brother now or sometimes
people be like are you teaching?

Speaker 2 (40:19):
And they ain't out a.

Speaker 3 (40:20):
Second, I'm not ready for that, man, like, which is good,
but no, I around here it's been They ask about
the Charity Classic a lot are we going to do it?
Are we not? And no, I would say that was
always uh, you got you guys have made it great.
And then a lot about the hurricane, like there's there's

(40:42):
been a lot of people who have just they just
come up and let's say thank you, and I try
and tell them like it was everybody else. Man, I'll
never forget that for the rest of my life, the
way so many different people stepped up and help.

Speaker 5 (40:53):
What is it like, man, to actually, now that you're
not playing anymore, to sit and just watch that you're
a brother and a type of player he is in
the NFL.

Speaker 3 (41:04):
First of all, I'm proud, like it's I'm so proud
to have watched both of them, to watch Derek player,
to watch TJ play, But for TJ especially because we
play a very similar position and we're wired so similarly.
As I watch the game, it's like I'm watching myself,
and so I can put myself in those situations. I
can kind of think what he's thinking. So immediately after

(41:25):
the game, we're talking and I'm like, what this play?
Were you thinking this? And yeah, I was thinking that,
Or He'll be like I was thinking about possibly using
this move, And so how lucky are we that we
get to have these conversations at the highest level of
the game that nobody else ever gets to have, Like
it's to us, it's the coolest thing in the world
that my brother calls me and asks about an NFL

(41:47):
pass rush move because we both got to do it
at this level. It's it's really really cool, man. And
I've always said it, but I truthfully hope he breaks
every single record I've ever had, and I think he
probably will. But if we're talking about a single year. Ever,
he's gonna have the better career. He's gonna have a
better career, but there's a four year stretch where he

(42:09):
couldn't stamp it. You're talking about cool, How cool is it?

Speaker 2 (42:16):
You know?

Speaker 4 (42:16):
Obviously we growing up, we got to see like Reggie
White and all those guys on the Chunky suit commercials
all that.

Speaker 2 (42:21):
How cool is it? They have your mom and daddy commercially.

Speaker 3 (42:23):
It's cool, man, It's cool. It's it's a lot of fun.
The most fun about those is filming him because, like
you know, how it is, brothers and sisters, Like nobody
rags on you like your family. So we get into
a commercial shooting and we get all of us there
and my dad flubs a line and we just all
over him. Man, they're like my brother flubs the line,
and the outtakes are the best part. So, like I said,

(42:44):
we're living life experiences that people only dream about. And
we know how lucky we're. We're so thankful, so anytime
they come along, we just try and appreciate it.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
The ring of honor.

Speaker 5 (42:57):
Tell me what that moment was like, man, because I
remember and on the field with you, and you know,
you seem to like I could tell it got to
you a little bit. You know, it's definitely because it
gives you. I always tell people it gives you a
time to reflect on what you've accomplished throughout your career.

Speaker 2 (43:18):
Tell me about that moment.

Speaker 5 (43:19):
I remember sitting on the field with you and you
seem like it kind of yeah.

Speaker 3 (43:22):
I mean, that was my first time being back in
the stadium since I had left on a game day,
So there were a ton of emotions just from that
standpoint alone, before even myself thinking about what the Ring
of Honor and everything meant. So walking back into the
stadium and seeing the fans and seeing the field laid down,
and adrenaline and the emotions, like it all comes back

(43:45):
and you're just like, damn, this is it, man, Like
this this is what I love and this is what
I miss. And then you see your name up in
the Ring of Honor next to you and mister McNair,
and you think about how that's gonna be there.

Speaker 1 (44:01):
Forever, Yes, sir, that name is gonna be in the
rafters forever. Jay J.

Speaker 3 (44:07):
Watt Man.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
That was a really fun goat talk between JJ, the guest,
and the hosts Andre Johnson and Jonathan Joseph. Okay, we
got back. We'll go round the NFL. Two NFL draft
prospects for this draft. We'll have their numbers retired at
Colorado over the weekend. M interesting, we'll discuss next the

(44:28):
Texans All Access. We go on final segment this Tuesday
edition of Texans All Access. Sean Harris, your host, Salo
reporter Amphibl anals for your Houston Texans getting ready for
the draft. Obviously, So the draft is always well, it's
at the forefront of my mind pretty much, twenty four
to seven, three sixty five, especially at this.

Speaker 3 (44:49):
Time of year.

Speaker 1 (44:50):
So news from some prospects at the University of Colorado.
Travis Hunter and Sneer Sanders will have their numbers Retiredumber
twelve and number two, respectively. And I think this is
one of the dumbest things that I have seen. As
John mcclan would say, this is one of the dumbest
things I've ever seen. It's ridiculous. Shaduor wasn't even All American.

(45:15):
He's first team All Big twelve and he's Offensive Player
of the Year into Big Twelve. Great, they won thirteen
games together. That's it. This is absolutely the most asinine
thing I've ever seen in my life. There are schools
that you have a formula. University of North Carolina basketball,
they have a formula for guys that get their jerseys
up in the rafters and you gotta be I think

(45:37):
it's you gotta be All American on three the different services,
or you have to be acc Player of the Year,
something along those lines. You get your jersey. They're afters.
There's a formula for it. Colorado's four jerseys retired four.
They're guys like Eric Bienemy who are instrumental in a
national championship run, Darian Hagen instrumental in national championship run.

(45:59):
Alfred william Was I think, a two time All American
from Age Town on that national championship team. There are
dudes that absolutely should have their numbers retired. Not this guy, Travis,
you can maybe convince me, but SNR Sanders number in time.
This is the dumbest thing I've ever ever seen. And

(46:21):
if you're gonna do it, make him wait. They want
thirteen flipping games. That's it. It's the I've been listening
to this story all day and it's driven me absolutely crazy,
absolutely the nuts. And you see teams, like I said,

(46:41):
that have a formula. I don't know what the formula
is in Colorado. I don't know whose idea this was,
but it's I don't even care if it's Prime. And
you guys know, I like Prime. I like Prime as
a coach. There's some things that he does. It drives
me crazy, but I think he's got common old school
nature to him. I sure hope that he's not the
one behind us because that just doesn't speak to how

(47:04):
a coach told handle things. So next year's quarterback Julian
Lewis ends up being fresh all American? Is his number
retired before the seasons even over? Don't I don't. I
just I'm dumb founded to say the least. But two
former Texans are five found well. One is found a
new home, Max Sharpening when you signed with the Steelers.

(47:25):
But Ross Blacklock, he of Elkins High School TCU, was
a textas second round pick a twenty twenty. He has
been released by the New York Giants. All right, that's
it for the show. Appreciate JJ Watt, Andre Johnson, and
Jonathan Joseph for their go talk. It was awesome. Appreciate
all you guys. Love y'all, we'll see you tomorrow and
as always, go Texans.