[Chron] Andre Johnson no longer wants to be a Texan

Yes, it is. What other "card" is there to play? The Texans WERE terrible last year WITH Andre (and for the record, yes, they were terrible with JJ Watt as well...did he miss all of the off-season prgrams, too?).

 

The NFL is "Box Office;" do you honestly believe an AJ-less Texan team would have drawn one less fan? The league and its teams are so much bigger than any one player, and are, at the moment, unstoppable.

 

And neither J.J. nor AJ missed off-season workouts last year and we lost 14 straight games.

I said he's Box Office, sales merchandise, and he's HOF bond and those things are important to McNair.

Although you make a point, what you said has nothing to do with what I said. But yet in still it's still a benefit for an NFL team to have a box office player or two... How many Tampa Bay games did you see on national TV last year...???

 

What you said was, AJ "puts butts in seats and eyes on the TV, he sales merchandise, and he's H.O.F. bound." The Texans would not see a single % drop in the first three if AJ left; the NFL is too big. I do agree AJ is important to McNair in terms of building a legacy, and his HoF course likely has tremendous appeal to Bob. But even that obviously has a ceiling, as McNair was unwilling to gurantee AJ anything beyond 2014.

Do you honestly think the Texans were on national TV because of Andre Johnson? If so, why aren't they on any national TV games this year? Or why didn't they have any 2003-2010?

 

AJ put my butt in a seat twice last season. And other than J.J. those jersey sales would drop if AJ wasn't on the team.

And you got my point.

 

That's fine; had you not bought those tickets, the Texans would have sold them - AJ or no AJ. And if AJ did leave, the Texans would still sell thousands and thousands of jerseys. You're giving Andre Johnson *way* too much credit. He's very popular and I'm sure they sell a lot of #80 jerseys. But the team would still thrive without him; someone else would fill the void.

 

Exactly. This team went 2-14 last year and sold out single-game tickets before anyone ever knew if AJ was even reporting.

 

The Houston Oilers says hello...

 

The NFL was nowhere near as popular in 1994 as it is now. And we hated the crooked owner.

 

Yup, and the support didn't really dry up until they started talking about moving to the sticks....a move that essentially devalued the franchise and has them sitting at 32 on the top 50 most valuable franchises while Houston sits at 12. Only someone as incompetent as Bud Adams could screw up a football franchise in Houston.

 

Wha...? Are you suggesting that the Oilers' departure was tied to the team releasing Andre Johnson...? Or that the exit of a player actually on the 1994 Oilers led to the team moving? Is this a Warren Moon reference? I'm utterly confused.

You're way, way, way over-inflating AJ's impact/worth to the team. The Colts - an example from this century - actually did ok when Peyton Manning left. They sold out all 8 home games in 2011 at 102.9% capacity.

 

No I'm not suggesting that... AJ didn't play for the Oilers.

Fact remains as I originally said _ AJ is Box Office, he puts butts in seats, he puts eyes on the TV (not just Houston eyes but eyes around the country), he moves merchandise (AJ jerseys are all around the country), and he's HOF bound and all of those things are important to McNair... Although you say they are not _ McNair disagrees with you.

Also the Texans have a better chance for success with AJ than without him... That's a very important reason as well.

I really don't understand your reasons for disputing that.

 

And yet, McNair wasn't willing to give AJ his roster bonus; didn't renegotiate his contract; wouldn't guarantee his contract beyond this year... Yes, McNair very likely, and very wisely, values Andre Johnson. But there's a limit to that value, obviously.

As for AJ's impact, again - you're significantly overstating it. Two Texans (Watt and Foster) sold more jerseys last year than he did - and Foster barely played. And now he has additional competition.

As for his national recognition, you're overstating that, too

Some of it is the Texans' fault; they've been an irrelevant franchise for the majority of his career. But to suggest he moves the needle nationally, or that the Texans would suffer in *any* way if he were to leave is being pushed through a very thick AJ80 filter.

Well, they went 2-14 with him last year; let's start there...

 

We don't know what McNair is willing to do or what he told AJ he was going to do or not do... Do you have proof or facts that he said he wasn't....??? We do know McNair said he wants AJ to finish his career as a Texan though... And now we see AJ smiling and saying all the right things.

And they have practically the entire year to work him out a new contract "IF" they intend on keeping him BTW.

 

It's 2014.

 

Actually AJ is on record saying he doesn't know if he will retire a Texan because business is business. He even used Jerry Rice as an example.

Stop making things up.

 

People prefer watching JJ Watt over Andre Johnson, fans from Houston watched some games because of Case Keenum, not because Andre Johnson is there.

last year, I saw more fans in the stadium, (in the TV transmission) wearing Watt, Cushing, Foster jerseys over Andre Johnson jerseys.

 

I would point out that there were tons of tickets available on Stubhub last year for $10-$20, well under face value. The games may have sold out, but its unlikely that the stadium was full. UT went through this the last few years. Back in 2009, it was believed that UT would never have ticket sales problems. Long waiting lists for season tickets, resale tickets for above face value, etc. In the last couple of years, I get weekly emails from UT begging me to buy discounting tickets.

Tickets won't sell out forever if the team is not a draw. Texans had a stretch where they were a new team for a while, and then a competitive team for a while. If they suck again this year, tickets will be easier and easier to get - and that limits ability to raise ticket prices, etc. I agree, though, that it's more about the team's performance than a player.

 

Remii is one of the worst Texans and Rockets posters on this board,

 

Sure; someone is selling a ticket they've already purchased, which means it has zero impact on Bob McNair's gigantically pristine bottom line.

I recognize interest is the real issue, and I would imagine that *is* concerning from McNair's perspective - though, again: nothing 10 wins can't instantly fix. And to Remii's point, there's certainly value - up to a point - in employing long-tenured players who are very good to help mitigate some of that potentially waning interest. But AJ isn't going to cover-up years of losing and if he's smart - and based on his seeming reluctance to compromise, I think he is – McNair recognizes that. (Something Drayton McClane never quite understood.)

As for AJ moving the needle outside of Houston, there's absolutely nothing to suggest he's must-see-TV. He's very likely well-known (enhanced considerably, I'm sure, by his fantasy football prowess), likely respected - but he's never been the face of a national campaign; he's never had a breakout game in front of a huge audience; his prime time/national TV appearances have been sporadic and not terribly memorable (lots of losses)... At this point, AJ is a luxury. And as long as he fits within McNair’s budget, I’m sure he’s happy to employ that luxury.