Sometimes, because of the fact that the last three years of Texans football, prior to 2023, felt like fifty years, we forget that our local team is the youngest franchise in the National Football League. During the two decades and change that the Texans have existed, they’ve gotten pretty good quarterback play in around half the seasons.
The Matt Schaub Era (2007 through 2013) was really good for about four or five years, and the Deshaun Watson Era, while ending awkwardly and angrily, was marked by good quarterback play for most of four seasons. Outside of that, this season of C.J. Stroud is the one other “Pro Bowl” level patch of calendar.
Despite having highly performing quarterbacks in Schaub and Watson — I’m leaving Stroud to the side in this discussion, kind of like a baseball hitter who only has 50 or 60 at-bats but is hitting .450 — I would submit that the two most popular quarterbacks in team history are T.J. Yates and Case Keenum. It would sound strange for almost any other franchise, having one QB with a 4-6 career record and another with a 3-8 career record, duking it out for the top spot. But, it’s the Texans.
Schaub’s career was buried under a sea of pick sixes that decimated the 2013 season, and Watson’s career was buried in a trade requests and dozens of lawsuits from angry massage therapists. Yates and Keenum are folk heroes, and with a team like the Texans, that’s enough to be ACTUAL heroes, more highly thought of than others with gaudier resumes.
This became a topic over the weekend, when Case Keenum, replacing a concussed C.J. Stroud, stepped out of the third string, emergency quarterback shadows to take the reins of the Texans in a 19-16 overtime upset of the Oiler jersey-clad Tennessee Titans. It was quite a scene in the locker room afterward:
It’s not the first time that Keenum has been called upon in an emergency pinch. Back in 2014, Bill O’Brien almost literally pulled Keenum out of a deer lease in Weeks 16 and 17, when the Texans entire quarterback room was knocked out for the season. Keenum went 2-0 in those two starts. On the other hand, Texan fans need no reintroduction to Yates, who had three stints with the team and started the team’s first ever playoff game.
These are two folk heroes we are talking about here, and this is a monumental sports bar debate here in Houston (in my mind, at least) —- which one, Yates or Keenum, is the bigger cult hero here in Houston, among fans? I put it to a poll on Twitter, and I break down the tale of the tape below:
So Keenum is a fairly overwhelming favorite of the people, but did the people get it right? Let’s examine, shall we? Here are my key criteria on who comes out on top in this earth shaking argument:
How drastic were the major triage situations each has been asked to remedy?
Yates was first called into duty his rookie season to try to help bring home the team’s first division banner and postseason berth, after the Texans lost Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart to injury. That’s about as tough as it gets. In future stints, Yates was called on for spot starts during seasons with little to no expectations. Keenum made his debut in 2013, but his most famous assignment, before this past Sunday, was coming in cold off the street to lead the Texans to two wins to close out 2014.
CULT HERO ADVANTAGE: YATES
What are the biggest games or moments each has had for the Texans?
Keenum’s biggest moment, without a doubt, was leading the Texans to the win over the Titans this past Sunday, bringing them back from down 13-0 and doing it on a day where the Titans were flaunting their Oiler roots to all of Houston. Yates’ biggest moments were winning his first start against Atlanta, clinching the division in Cincinnati, and winning the franchise’s first playoff game in 2011.
CULT HERO ADVANTAGE: YATES
Who is more “Houston”?
Hey, we all love T.J. Yates. He will never have to buy a drink ever in this city. But the only things more Houston than Case Keenum are Nolan Ryan, the rodeo, and the BE SOMEONE sign.
CULT HERO ADVANTAGE: KEENUM in a landslide
What potential future ties do we anticipate?
Keenum still has more work to do for the Houston Texans, possibly as soon as this weekend, if C.J. Stroud can’t make it out of the concussion protocol in time for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns. Also, it wouldn’t shock me if Keenum were on the Texans’ coaching staff someday. Yates’ playing days are through, but he has embarked on a coaching career. We’ll see where it takes him, but it feels like we will be seeing a whole lot more of Keenum in the future.
CULT HERO ADVANTAGE: KEENUM
So each win two categories, but it looks like tie goes to the one who oozes Houston (and the great state of Texas, for that matter) from every pore. All hail, King Keenum!
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
