Little known Sean Pendergast fact — I am a sports documentary junky. If you stuck me on a desert island, assuming I could recharge my iPad somewhere and I had good internet connectivity (most bad ass desert island ever!), and all I had was ESPN’s library of “30 for 30” features, I’d be just fine. At least, I’d be fine until I had to kill my own food, but I digress.
Unfortunately, as a Houston Texans fan, they’ve only been around for 20 years, and for most of that time, they’ve been average to below average (to flat out bad the last few years), and thus, there isn’t much documentary material for producers. However, if some documentary genie gave me some “content wishes,” here are the Texans-related docs I’d like to see:
5. ANDRE THE GIANT, Johnson Pummels Finnegan, 2010
Admittedly, the feature on this 2010 fight between Andre Johnson and Titans CB Cortland Finnegan is probably more of a 20-minute, “30 for 30 short” than a full fledged 90 to 120 minute documentary, although my guess is the backstory between these two guys, given the two teams playing twice a season, has juice that goes way beyond that one explosive Sunday.
YouTube sneak preview video:
4. UNLUCKY ’13, The Cursed 2013 Texans Season
Again, this is a documentary that probably doesn’t resonate with a national audience, but there is a TON to work with here from the Texans’ 2-14 season in 2013 — Matt Schaub’s “pick six” implosion, Ed Reed signing here and trashing the coaches before getting cut, Gary Kubiak’s on-field stroke, the slew of injuries to key players (Foster, Cushing, Daniels, etc.) , and ultimately Kubiak getting fired after an embarrassing Thursday night loss in Jacksonville. Done properly, this could be really compelling.
YouTube sneak preview video:
3. CULTURE CLUB, The Jack Easterby Story
Jack Easterby arrived from New England in 2019 to some strange fanfare from people inside the building. Before long, Easterby would engineer the firing of Brian Gaine, and he and Bill O’Brien would run roughshod over the entire building, decimating the roster, running off Deshaun Watson (more on that in a minute), and alienating an entire fan base. Thankfully, this one has a happy ending, at least if you consider seeing sketchy people get fired a happy ending (insert Watson “happy ending” joke HERE).
YouTube sneak preview video:
2. BEAT L.A., The Story of Bob McNair Stealing an Expansion Team
After the Oilers left in the mid-’90s, it seems like Houston would be without a football team for the foreseeable future, maybe decades. The league was always committed to giving Cleveland a team, and it was obvious the NFL wanted to get back into Los Angeles at that time. In swooped the late Bob McNair, whose vision and tireless efforts allowed Houston to cut to the front of the expansion line, and reprise NFL football in 2002. God bless that man!
YouTube sneak preview video:
1. MASSAGE ENVY, The Deshaun Watson Saga
Truth of the matter is that the most compelling documentary, for Texans fans, would be an all-encompassing feature beginning with the playoff loss to Kansas City in January 2020, and then recapping everything that happened up through the return of DeMeco Ryans as head coach and the drafting of C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson. However, if you’re looking to capture the imagination of a national audience, I truly believe the Deshaun Watson saga will be a “30 for 30” someday. Selfishly, I hope that’s the case, as I will probably at least get a few seconds of air time to discuss the interview that Seth Payne and I did with Rusty Hardin where he insisted that happy endings are not a crime.
YouTube sneak preview video:
So let’s go, Hollywood! Make these happen!
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast, on Instagram at instagram.com/sean.pendergast, and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
