The grapevine for the Houston Texans is full of rumors about what type of player will be drafted. This NFL football team had a solid performance last year. They will now have the 15th pick in the first round of the draft that will begin shortly. A strong defensive player would be well received by the fans and would add some fire to the team.
Some pundits are already listing the reasons why they believe the club will give some indication that this is the way the organization is currently leaning. One of the hottest rumors is that they will use their pick at linebacker. With more penetration and speed on the team’s front line, fans with Houston Texans tickets to that opener will no doubt have more reason to celebrate as the 2009 season progresses.
Franchise is still a toddler among NFL teams
The Texans entered the world of professional football in 2002, but Chuck Watson and Bob McNair had decided to put the NFL back in Houston a few years earlier. The Houston Oilers club had moved to Tennessee in the ’90s, and sports fans were looking for a professional group to call their own. Once the NHL decided to pass on the duo’s idea of having a professional hockey team based in Houston, McNair and Watson decided to re-establish an NFL team in Houston.
The franchise was officially awarded to McNair and the city of Houston in 1999. Ground broke that same year on the team’s new stadium. The Texans were set to have their first NFL game in 2002 in the world’s first sports arena with a retractable roof.
.500 seasons in 2007 and 2008 “not good enough”
The Texans finished the 2007 season with a .500 average and posted an 8-8 year. This was their best record since 2002, and they still finished last in their division. The Texas team has to compete against Tennessee, Jacksonville and Indiana. With competition like that, it means being good isn’t enough.
Of course, the fans were excited to see their club stay focused and on track throughout the year. This is a new franchise still finding its identity, but the right ingredients are definitely there. When the team released the latest financial numbers for the 2007 season, it was obvious there was no slowdown in ticket requests for the Houston Texans.
The 2008 season opened with high hopes that the Texans would do well and once again hit the .500 mark. Jacoby Jones and Andre Johnson both earned game honors as wide receivers in 2008. The Houston Texans definitely benefited from the skills of these star players and Jones was the first member of the team to receive multiple “Player of the Week” touches from the AFC. in the same season.
Fans are quick to point out that even with a .500 season, the Houston team did much better than many of its rivals. The San Diego Chargers posted the same record, and yet his team went all the way to the Super Bowl this past January. A.500’s regular season performance was good, but not quite up to the level of Indianapolis and Tennessee. This time the Texans finished third among the 4 teams in the South division. Fans, players and coaches all agreed that the team’s play had been pretty strong all year.
Opening game may set the tone for rest of 2009
The new 2009 season is now scheduled to open in just a few months, and Houston Texans tickets are already extremely hard to find. Since the end of the 2008 season, fans have been speaking out loud about what they think of their team’s chances this year. There are even some highly respected sportswriters who agree that this could be the year for the Houston Texans to break free from the pack and take over the division lead.
