"St. Louis Rams receiver Donnie Avery will never forget the first time he met his favorite NFL player and role model, Texans receiver Andre Johnson.

"We were at this place in Rice Village, and I saw him chatting with some friends," Avery said during a break in preparations for Sunday's game against the Texans. "I stopped and said, 'Excuse me. I'm Donnie Avery. I go to the University of Houston. I just wanted to tell you you're a beast out there.'"

Avery, who played at Hastings before becoming one of the nation's best receivers for the Cougars, has patterned himself after Johnson — on and off the field.

"That was my first time to meet an NFL player," Avery said. "He was the most humble person in the world, very down-to-earth. He made a good impression on me, and I ran with it."

Avery ran with it all the way to St. Louis, which selected him in the second round of the 2008 draft. He was the first receiver picked.

Avery is such a big Johnson fan that he can recite his statistics.

"I've been amazed by Andre since he was first picked by the Texans in '03," he said. "He had 976 yards as a rookie. I looked up to him, and I watched him on Sundays.

"When they let the fans watch practice at training camp, I was always there watching him and learning from him."

As a first-year pro in 2008 Avery caught 53 passes — the most by a Rams rookie receiver since 1996 — for 674 yards and three touchdowns. This season, he has 39 catches for 510 yards and five touchdowns."