We got in some koozies and we'll be passing them out pre-game at the tailgate parties and post-game at Celtic Garden in Midtown. Come find us and snag a few...free of charge.
I got a chance to test em out at tonight's Preseason game against the 49'ers, and they work like a dream!
Follow us @WeRunGame to find out where we'll be setting up shop next...The Houston Collection drops it's first Bulls on Parade tee and tank items within the next week.
When the Texans drafted Duane Brown late in the first round in 2008, skepticism abounded.
Fans were upset that general manager Rick Smith traded down from 18th to 26th, passing on running backs such as Rashard Mendenhall and cornerbacks such as Mike Jenkins. Critics called the pick a reach, saying the Texans could have gotten Brown in the second round.
Brown was athletic but unproven and unrefined. He had played only one season at left tackle at Virginia Tech after one season at tight end and two at right tackle. He was the eighth offensive tackle to go in the first round of the 2008 draft.
"We have really been in love with this kid for a long time," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said at the time. "He fits what we want to do. He is very athletic, which we want guys to get to the second level and do some cutting and those types of things. We think he is only on the rise. This kid is going to get better and better."
Four years later, it turns out the Texans were exactly right. Brown, 26, received a contract extension on Thursday that will reportedly pay him $53 million over the next six years. He earned it after allowing just 2.5 sacks last season on his way to second-team All-Pro honors.
“We thought we knew the type of player that he could develop into, and it’s just fortunate that he has,” Smith said. “He’s a young, ascending player. I think he’s determined and committed to being as good as he can be, and I think he has the ability to be as good as there is in the league. We’re excited. It’s another important piece to the foundation that we’ve laid about trying to bring a championship to Houston and build on that.”
Brown has started 60 of 64 games in four seasons with the Texans. As a rookie, he rotated every third series with veteran tackle Ephraim Salaam. In 2010, he missed four games early in the season because of a suspension for a failed drug test.
After having his best season in 2011, Brown has looked even better this offseason. Kubiak Kubiak said during OTAs (organized team activities) that Brown looked like he had taken his game to another level. Offensive line coach John Benton said in the first week of training camp that Brown has become not just a good player for the Texans but a weapon, a rare athlete at left tackle who attacks opponents with a nasty disposition on run and pass plays alike.
Brown also has grown into a quiet leadership role on the offensive line.
“Duane has not only been a good player but he’s been excellent off the field, in the locker room,” Kubiak said Thursday. “He’s had a great offseason, he’s a worker and he’s here all the time. All those things add up to what happened to him today, so it was well-deserved.
“We’re happy for him. As a coach in this business, you love seeing players who do it the right way get rewarded. He’s been exceptional since the day he walked in the building, not only as a player but as a person. He’s got a lot of bright years ahead of him, so we’re very happy for him. The whole team is.”
Brown said earlier this offseason that he wanted to stay in Houston, that he loved the organization, his teammates and the city. He got his wish on Thursday.
“(It’s) just surreal,” Brown said. “I’d been happy to make it to this point, to the NFL, but once you get here, it’s hard work, and I realized that. It took me a while to mature and to get to this point in my life where I’ve become a complete pro. I’m just happy that they recognize that and have the confidence in me to extend this great deal.
“I’m so excited to be able to get this deal extended, and to be a Texan for a long time means a lot to me.”
Twitter.com/NickScurfield
Props to HoustonTexans.com for the info
Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson made a spectacular play in practice on Tuesday morning at the Methodist Training Center.
Quarterback
It was just one play, but it was representative of the progress that the much-maligned Jackson has made entering his third NFL season.
“This time last year, he wouldn’t have pulled the trigger to make that play,” Texans defensive backs coach Vance Joseph said. “But now he’s feeling confident enough where he knows what he’s looking at, he’s experienced enough to go, ‘You know something, I see it; I’m going to go get it.’ That’s encouraging for me to see.”
Jackson has been vilified by Texans fans and media for the last two years, perhaps more than any other player. A first-round draft pick out of Alabama in 2010, he was on the wrong end of numerous big plays as a rookie, becoming the poster child for a defense that ranked 32nd against the pass.
In his second season, Jackson started 13 games as the Texans improved to third against the pass under new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. He improved his technique under Phillips and Joseph. He gave up far fewer big plays.
That improvement has carried over into the offseason.
“He’s a much better player right now,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said on Tuesday.”He’s much more comfortable in Wade’s system, confident. I think Kareem’s really improved as a player, and it’s all about confidence with him, too.”
The biggest remaining area of improvement for
Jackson is turning his head around to make plays on the ball. He had
just six passes defensed last season, one less than Texans linebacker
In the Texans’ preseason opener at Carolina on Saturday, Jackson ended the Panthers’ first series by batting down a pass from Cam Newton to Brandon LaFell on third-and-short. The fact Joseph was not satisfied with the result – he expected Jackson to make an interception – is another indication of how far Jackson has come.
“He’s improved so much from the spring to the fall,” Joseph said. “His technique is really, really good. His confidence is at an all-time high. He’s making plays on the ball. His next level is to make the big plays. He was solid last year – good player, solid – but now he has to make more big plays for us. That play he made today was a great play. The one he didn’t make Saturday, we can’t do. We’ve got to make those plays.”
Pro Bowl cornerback
"The first time we had a chance to come out here in OTAs back in the spring, his first period, he went out there, stayed square in his backpedal," Joseph said. "Things they were preaching to him all year long, and he came right out there the first day and just did it the correct way. Everybody in the meeting room, when we saw it, we kind of gave him a round of applause, because that shows your progression or shows you’re maturing on and off the field to take things that were taught to you last year and bring it right back in the spring from the time-off period that we had.
“Coming into training camp, they were talking about ‘Make more big plays,’ and today, he comes up with a one-handed interception. So it’s just things like that that you want to see him take that next step in and have those progressions.”
Jackson, 24, said he tries to take what he has learned from Johnathan Joseph, Vance Joseph and film study and transfer it to the field. So far, it has paid noticeable dividends.
“I’m a lot closer in making plays and breaking on the ball a lot better,” he said. “I’m seeing things out there, recognizing formations, recognizing routes, recognizing receiver stems and stuff. Once I’m able to recognize those things, I’m able to get a jump on the ball.”
Vance Joseph said that improvement is part of the natural progression of a cornerback entering his third season in the NFL.
“As a rookie, if he wasn’t ready to play, he shouldn’t have played, probably,” Joseph said. “But he was forced to play. He took some lumps, but he’s been so resilient. That’s why he’s my favorite guy, because he’s tough. He’s mentally tough. Most guys would’ve folded and went away, but he kept battling, he kept getting better. He heard the critics, but he kept working.”
Said Jackson: “Everybody in their life has been through some adversity at some point. If it don’t kill you, it’ll make you stronger. I don’t think anything out here’ll kill me, so for me to kind of fight through that adversity, now, to look back on it, it definitely made me a stronger man and a stronger player.”
Twitter.com/NickScurfield
props to HoustonTexans.com for the info
There's never a bad time to check out this video...enjoy.
