Andre Johnson surprised,
happy to be recognized at Gap
Mar/19/08 06:18 PM Filed in:
Andre Johnson
HOUSTON, TX — In what he later described as
“one of the greatest moments of my life,”
Andre Johnson was recognized Thursday during a
seemingly routine trip to a Houston-area Gap store.
“I’m just standing there, and some kid
says, ‘Hey, you’re Andre Johnson, from the
Texans, right?’” Johnson told SSNN.
“I was floored. Stunned. It was right then I knew
that I’d made it.”
The encounter took place at the sweaters display, where
Johnson was intently considering whether or not he
could pull off an argyle vest. It was an interesting
moment as well for 14-year-old Danny Templin, who
spotted Johnson.
“I look over, and there’s this dude who
looks like Andre Johnson in the Gap,” Templin
said. “But he was wearing an Andre Johnson
jersey, which I thought was a little weird and maybe
meant it wasn’t him. So I wasn’t going to
ask him, because I didn’t want to be the guy who
thinks that every black guy in a jersey is an athlete.
But DreJay saw me eying him, I guess, and called me
over; so that’s sort of how it went down. He
seemed pretty excited to meet me.”
According to Johnson, this is only the second time in
his career that he has been recognized at a mall, in
spite of the fact that he visits them frequently to
“polish interpersonal skills.”
“Yeah, you don’t get recognized that much
as a pro athlete,” Johnson said.
“It’s weird. These dudes like A-Rod and
Kobe Bryant and Tom Brady – you know, guys who
say they can’t go outside of their house? Those
guys are probably exaggerating. That sort of public
awareness runs counter to my experience.”
In spite of it all, Johnson was touched by the
encounter.
“It was really cute, he was really
nervous,” Johnson said of Templin. “He was
so nervous that he didn’t even remember to ask me
for my autograph, and when I reminded him, he said
‘don’t worry about it.’ To be that
nervous and scared, he must be a huge fan. I was
touched.”
(seriousportsnewsnetwork.com)