I’ve been covering the Houston Texans since 2007, and have been doing so as a host on their flagship and part of their game day broadcast for nearly a decade, so I feel like I have a decent historical perspective on the organization and the ebbs and flows through the years. Thus, with that said, I proclaim this coming season as the most anticipated Texans season, during the summer months, since 2018, which was the season following Deshaun Watson’s rookie year.
At that time, we’d seen just enough from Watson in 2017 to feel like he was possibly the face of the league in a few years (wrong — turned out to be Patrick Mahomes, and Watson wound up being kind of a weirdo, at a minimum), there was a new GM NOT named Bill O’Brien (that would come a year later), and the Tyrann Mathieu signing showed the Texans were a place for vets to go ring chase, maybe.
Those were fun times that ultimately didn’t hold up. The anticipation in 2023 is palpable, but very different, built around a brand new coach, a brand new rookie quarterback, and a slew of young players who could be future foundational pieces. The Texans, to their credit, are doing a great job of leaning into the anticipation for the upcoming season.
One recent example came last Thursday when the Texans tweeted out this cryptic silhouette of a football player with Monday’s date on his back:
As intended, this tweet, which was dropped around 9 a.m. Thursday, had everybody buzzing for the rest of the week and into the weekend. What could it mean?
If you’re among the skeptical Texan fans who think that this is the organization setting itself and its fan base up for a major letdown, just know that the team saw fit to purchase at least one billboard along a Houston freeway to let the Twitter-less position of the Texans’ fan base know that something is brewing this coming Monday:
So what could it be? What are the Texans planning for Monday? The speculation largely fell into the following buckets:
Something J.J. Watt related
To me, this is the favorite. Since retiring in February, Watt has been very complimentary of and thankful toward the Texans (not that he wasn’t before, but I think, given the way things have been around here the last couple years, we needed to hear it again). Rumors have swirled about a Ring of Honor induction in the near future, and the player on the Twitter post slightly resembles Watt.
New uniforms unveiled
It is known that the Texans have been kicking around new uniform designs, and it’s anticipated that the team could wear a new design in 2024. I understand people thinking this could be the tease, but I don’t think the average fan knows how much red tape a team has to go through to get new uniforms approved, and from what I’ve seen and heard, I don’t think they’re at a “reveal” stage yet. My educated guess.
“They must be signing somebody, maybe DeAndre Hopkins!”
No team in the NFL teases a future signing on social media, so I don’t expect the Texans to be the first. Also, signings get reported publicly, oftentimes, days before they’re made official by the team. This is a big “NO.”
Something Andre Johnson related
Andre is already in the Ring of Honor, and we know he’s not going into the Hall of Fame this summer. Again, if he were getting hired by the team, they wouldn’t make a “countdown style” spectacle of it on social media. At least, I don’t think they would
Fill in super disappointing letdown here _________
The rest of the conjecture has involved people thinking that the team will reveal something entirely underwhelming, like unveiling the promotions and themes for each of the home games this season, or perhaps that the Texans will be the subject of “Hard Knocks,” which would actually be really cool, but is not happening.
For what it’s worth, here is what nearly 2,000 voter son Twitter think is happening on Monday:
If I had to make this an odds board, here are the official Sean Pendergast Sports Book odds:
Something J.J. Watt related -200
Something “new uniform” related +350
FIeld +1500
We’ll know, I’m guessing, sometimes Monday morning. The mystery will be solved.
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.
