“When the knock came, Kennard asked if I could get it? I’m like, sure, I’ll grab it.”
After Carter, Porter, Wyche, Derosiers and others from the Hall of Fame and NFL Films left Johnson’s house, there was no big celebration.
“We just ordered some food, hung out at my house, talked about it, laughed about it and embraced the moment,” Johnson said in his typical understated style. “When I played, I never really thought about the Hall of Fame unless I was asked about it later in my career. I just didn’t pay much attention to the possibility until it was close to the time it could happen.”
In his three years of eligibility, Johnson competed with two other receivers – Reggie Wayne and Torry Holt – who also are deserving of enshrinement. In his two years, Johnson made the selection committee’s reduction from 15 to 10 but never the final five until this year.
“When I was getting close to being eligible, that’s when I really started to pay attention,” Johnson said. “When I was a finalist the first two years and didn’t make it, I knew it was out of my control, and there was nothing I could do about it. I told myself if it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen.”
“There was just so much raw emotion,” McGuire said. “One reason I’m so emotional about it is I know how much Andre put into the game, how committed he was to his craft and how worthy he is to be in the Hall of Fame. And then you’re there for that moment when Cris Carter knocked on his door to tell him the news, and it was just overwhelming. When Andre opened the door, it was like that old E.F. Hutton commercial – everything got so quiet.
“To see Andre get so emotional and knowing what it meant to him – the sheer enjoyment watching him and the purity of the tears – it got to all of us. Later that night, when we were sitting around his house and eating and talking about the day, Andre and I looked at each other like, ‘Did this really happen? Is…
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