Getty ImagesChristmas came early for 12 children in Houston today, when they were treated to Toys R Us shopping sprees courtesy of Texans receiver Andre Johnson.
At an annual Christmas event organized by the Andre Johnson Charitable Foundation, the kids were given shopping carts and told they had 80 seconds (for Johnson’s jersey number) to fill the carts with whatever toys they wanted.
“You hear a minute and twenty seconds and you don’t think that’s a long time, but you’d be surprised by what these kids can put into their buckets,” Johnson told the Texans’ website.
Johnson’s foundation gladly picked up the tab (which came to $19,521) for the 12 kids, who were chosen by Houston’s Child Protective Services department. All of the children have been taken out of their homes because of parental abuse. Johnson, who has been footing the bill for the annual shopping spree for years, said he has been particularly touched to see that the kids aren’t just thinking of themselves as they grab all the toys they can.
“All the kids that have been here every year have gotten gifts for their brothers and sisters or cousins or whoever,” he said. “It just shows what they go through that they think about others. It shows what type of kids they are.”
And this shows what type of man Andre Johnson is.
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That comes out to roughly $20 worth of toys per second, per kid. Awesome.
Such a good story. I love hearing good news like this when all you hear is bad news. Johnson is such a class act and some give him a bad rep because that punk Finnegan provoked him into that fight but really Johnson is one of the classiest players in the league.
Love it. Hate the Texans, but love this
Class act. I used to work at a car wash in Pearland, Tx 6 years ago, and I detailed his Range Rover and he tipped me $100. Very giving individual from what I’ve seen first hand.
Awesome. Keep it up AJ.
You can’t hate this guy no matter how hard you try. EVEN Finnegan would admit, ”it wasn’t personal.”
What a awesome thing to do! Class act by a very classy guy!
Well done Andre. Wish more players would follow Mr Johnson’s example
Straight class homie
This is the guy every young kid who plays football should look up to and imulate. The fearless and humble way he plays the game and the way the carries himself on and off the field is second class to none.
He did that this morning.
THIS AFTERNOON he stopped by his “adopted” Bastian Elementary School and surprised 800 students with Christmas presents. His foundation partnered with HPD to make this happen.
He has done BOTH of these things every year on the same day since 2008.
He does stuff like this all the time in Houston and his hometown Miami.
So glad this guy represents my team and will be the first Houston Texan in the Hall of Fame!!!
The Texans should keep an eye on the quicker kids and those who had the agility to quickly navigate different aisles, stop on a dime to grab toys, and the strength to push the carts.
Great job, Andre!
What a beautiful act of kindness and generosity. God bless André.
the U! Keep doing great things on and off the field Andre. We are all proud of you.
Andre Johnson is a good guy.
Very cool indeed. That’s just awesome
Andre is great. Him and Calvin are the class of the NFL; they should really host a show together or something.
Solid effort there, oohrah AJ.
Andre Johnson, not your typical diva WR
Total class act
Houston Texans, not your typical greedy NFL team
Total class organization
I’m not a Texans fan but now a big Andre Johnson fan. The world, not just the NFL, needs more like him.
Andre is a stud. Humble, generous, and classy off the field. One of the best on it
I’ll be rootin against him Mon nite, but rootin for him all other times.
Such a wonderful selfless thing to do , total class act on and off the field !
What a guy!
I always thought the world of him as a player, but I think even more of him as a person.
What a beautiful thing to do.
If only he werent a deadbeat to the kid he actually fathered. Dre’s a pretty good dude for the most part but the report here locally a few weeks back exposed the story that he has baby mama drama and hasnt been doing what he needs to for his own kid.
Just another dot in a long list of why I like Andre Johnson…I’m sure cortland finnegans incident is another reason he’s at the top lol
Someone tell finnegans to stop being the only person disliking these comments lolol
Top 5 WR (used to be #1) who keeps his mouth shut and does his “talking” with his numbers. Always been a big fan of Andre Johnson. Class act.
Class act. You know, I’m glad he’s finally having success on the field too.
Funny how a baby mamma drama post makes it on here when we should just be praising a young man for his efforts. I’ll never believe he’s a deadbeat dad. With the NFL schedule it’s probably hard to be an involved father but I bet you that gold digger that baby trapped him is getting plenty of money out of it and not even working unless you call running her mouth to trash a good guy that supports her a job.
He does this EVERY year… not sure why he’s just now getting national recognition for it.
Andre is a such a class act. He embodies everything we would want our kids to be. He’s extremely talented, selfless in so many ways, loyal, and an overall good citizen.
He doesn’t get mixed up in off field drama. He could have left a terrible Texans team so many times for more money. He has reworked his contract several times so that the team could find more cap space to bring in guys like Johnathan Joseph. And he is SO clutch… In the Thankksgiving game agasint the Lions, 100+ of his 188 yds came after 6:34 left in the 4th qtr…
He should team up with Donald Driver in retirement — 2 of the most genuinely good guys ever to wear the #80.
Andre, Megatron and Greg Jennings have to be the classiest bunch of top notch WRs the league has seen in quite some time.
And no, I’m not saying Jennings is top 3 but he’s in the top 10 for sure.