Reggie Wayne stayed, skipping reunion with Texans' Andre Johnson

Considering how things have turned out, Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne never gives his decision to re-up with the team that drafted him a second thought.

But that doesn't mean he didn't at least fantasize about a college reunion.

Imagine, Wayne and Andre Johnson, former teammates at the University of Miami, working out of the same huddle instead of once again working off opposing sidelines this afternoon at Lucas Oil Stadium.

"It would have been cool," said Wayne, a driving force behind the Colts' dramatic rags-to-riches season. "We joked about it all offseason, man."

Wayne's contract expired at the end of the very forgettable 2-14 season. Free agency loomed, and the Colts had given him no indication he would be part of what appeared to be a very uncertain future.

The dialogue between Wayne and Johnson was constant. So was the topic.

"He asked me, 'What's going on in your camp?' " Wayne said. "I was like, 'Nothing. I have no idea.'

"He joked that it could be like old times. 'I need some help over here.' "

Wayne's response always was the same.

"You know my number."

Wayne admits he had a few solid offers and said he "left a few million dollars on the table" when he accepted the Colts' three-year, $17.5 million offer in mid-March.

He steadfastly refuses to divulge the suitors, but Johnson indicated Wayne had an interest in a relocation to Houston.

"Here was one of the places that he actually wanted to come," Johnson said. "I was hoping that I would get a chance to be able to play with him again. Unfortunately, it didn't go that way."

One of the reasons Wayne re-signed with the Colts was the arrival of Chuck Pagano as head coach. Pagano was an assistant coach at Miami when Wayne was developing into a first-round draft pick. And it was Pagano who recruited Johnson to "The U."

In retrospect, Wayne and Johnson realize Wayne made the appropriate decision.

"Even as we joke about it now, he tells me, 'You made the right decision,' " Wayne said. "I feel like I did, too. But it's good to think about the 'What ifs?' "

Added Johnson: "He started there, he's had a great career there. I'm just happy he's there playing at a high level even though he's been doing it for 12 seasons."


(indystar.com)