The REAL. BIG. Blog

By Ignacio Salazar

Houston Player of the Year: Andre Johnson

This year the choice was easy. Andre Johnson of the Texans was, without a doubt, one of the best players in the NFL this year. Not to mention the best among all the athletes currently playing for Houston pro teams.

Johnson led all NFL receivers with 115 receptions and 1,575 yards and he was voted to his third Pro Bowl, his second as a starter. He had eight games with 100 or more receiving yards and he is the only player in NFL history have 10 or more catches in seven games in a season.

Johnson’s finest game of the ‘08 season came against the Tennessee Titans in Week 13.  Johnson had a career day with 207 receiving yards to go along with 11 catches and the touchdown that helped raise the Texans above the Titans 13-12.

Johnson will have a place on this year’s NFL All-Pro team…there’s no doubt in my mind about it!

Runner Up: Lance Berkman – The Big Puma started off the season red hot for the Astros, but finished cold. Despite that, Berkman hit .312 with 29 home runs and 106 RBI. In May, Berkman hit .471 (49-for-104) to go along with a 17-game hitting streak. From May 5-11, Berkman hit an astounding .682 (15-for-22). Berkman was also voted to his fifth All-Star game and he finished fifth in NL MVP voting.

Houston Rookie of the Year: Steve Slaton

Texans running back Steve Slaton was a shoe-in for Rookie of the Year.  A third round pick (89th overall), Slaton wasn’t even slated to be a starter,  but the rookie took advantage of injuries to Ahman Green and Chris Taylor to lead the Texans and all NFL rookie running backs with 1,282 rushing yards which is also a new Texans single season record.

Slaton was awarded NFLPlayers.com Rookie of the Week award after his Oct. 5 performance against the Indianapolis Colts. In that game, Slaton rushed 16 times for 93 yards and two touchdowns in the losing effort.  In December, Slaton was named NFL Rookie of the Month for rushing for 508 yards, which added up to 4.7 yards per carry. He also had three touchdowns.  Slaton is also the only running back to break the 100-yard barrier against Tennessee Titans and he did it twice with 116 rush yards in Week 2 and again in Week 15 with 100 yards.

Runner up: Luis Scola, forward for the Rockets, was a NBA All-Rookie first team selection and he finished third in Rookie of the Year voting behind Kevin Durant and Al Horford.