Texans trying a new approach during offseason

[TexanSam]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...off/index.html

"You are going to have more friends than you ever had before. More people are going to want to hang out with you and buy you drinks. More girls are going to think you are good-looking. Be smart and keep it all in perspective."

I was just a happy-to-be-there rookie when veteran lineman Cory Raymer offered that advice before we left the Redskins offseason program for several weeks in 2001. Though I wasn't exactly sure what he meant at the time, I realized soon thereafter he was spot on in his prediction.

It quickly became evident that certain things change once you are on an NFL roster and have that team's brand attached to your name. All of a sudden more people want to spend time with you, and the attention can become a double-edged sword. Additionally, you can become a target of those looking to either associate themselves with you or take advantage of you in some way.

Never is that more likely than in this relatively dead time on the NFL calendar. Most teams have given their players upwards of six weeks off before they must report to training camp in late July. And no matter how much coaches and teammates emphasize the dangers, there are players who will find themselves in compromising situations.

There is clearly no way to completely eliminate these incidents from happening. But would it help if teams started and finished their offseason programs later? Instead of beginning in mid- to late-March and finishing in mid- to late-June, teams could easily push those dates back in an effort to close the gap of time before training camp. Teams could potentially shift the beginning of their allotted offseason time to the second week of April and finish it sometime in early July and still give the players a couple of weeks off to mentally re-charge before the rigors of training camp begins.

One team subscribing to this theory is Houston. The Texans started their offseason program March 31 and won't conclude until the week after July 4th, leaving less than two weeks between the end of the program and the start of training camp on July 25. It's clear Texans GM Rick Smith and coach Gary Kubiak are hoping this wrinkle will pay dividends on the field. In a copycat league, many teams will be looking at the Texans to see how this plays out.

According to two league sources who preferred to speak on the condition of anonymity, the major factors precluding teams from altering the offseason program schedule include the fact this stretch is traditionally the only real down time for overworked NFL coaches. There's also the fear that all NFL personnel people have of making a big change in the status quo.

Thought this was interesting. I had no idea the Texans were the only team to change their offseason schedule in part due to to keep their players from getting in trouble. At least that's what the guy seems to be suggesting. The Texans haven't said this publicly (as far as I know) but I'm sure it is one reason why we have a different offseason schedule than the rest of the league.

[ObsiWan]

you know, I wondered why just about everyone else was having their minicamps and whatnot now while ours are pretty much all done.

It'll be interesting to see if any other team changes things up next year.

[Malloy]

Troubled players should be forced to watch The Waterboy five times a day until they get their act together

[barrett]

doesn't us finishing our minicamps early mean more down time not less? also, alot of teams had mini camp schedules similar to ours. furthermore, that article said we continued until july 4th. what? what activity is taking place right now? nothing other than working on contracts as far as i know. what the hell is this guy talking about?

[Insideop]

Originally Posted by barrett

doesn't us finishing our minicamps early mean more down time not less? also, alot of teams had mini camp schedules similar to ours. furthermore, that article said we continued until july 4th. what? what activity is taking place right now? nothing other than working on contracts as far as i know. what the hell is this guy talking about?

This is what I was wondering too. Our OTA's were finished a week or two ago. Unless they are talking about conditioning programs, I'm not sure what activity they are referring to.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Insideop

This is what I was wondering too. Our OTA's were finished a week or two ago. Unless they are talking about conditioning programs, I'm not sure what activity they are referring to.

As I recall they had a couple weeks of weight-training scheduled that started
right after the OTAs, but even that would wrap up before the fourth-of-July weekend.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by Insideop

This is what I was wondering too. Our OTA's were finished a week or two ago. Unless they are talking about conditioning programs, I'm not sure what activity they are referring to.

Maybe they've got a bowling league or something?

Good points, though. I was wondering the same thing while reading that part of the article.

[ATXtexanfan]

Originally Posted by ObsiWan

you know, I wondered why just about everyone else was having their minicamps and whatnot now while ours are pretty much all done.

It'll be interesting to see if any other team changes things up next year.

i remember thinking the same, i thought we were just working harder that playoff push

[ObsiWan]

Originally Posted by Malloy

Troubled players should be forced to watch The Waterboy five times a day until they get their act together

oh man....
Isn't there a Constitutional edict against cruel and inhumane punishments.

[Texans_Chick]

I wrote on this some, and there is nothing particularly new or different that I added...

other than there is a picture with the piece that includes someone you might be familiar with:

Texans Offseason Program Designed to Keep Players Out of Trouble

[Texans_Chick]

BTW, the basic premise of the original Si.com article is wrong. I can't believe I didn't notice it right away. The Texans have basically the normal NFL schedule. I contacted the Texans about this, and this was the response:

We did begin offseason workouts on March 31; that is correct. However, our pre-training camp offseason program ended with the last day of OTAs on June 9 (you’ll have to check on that date, just going off the top of my head).

A lot of players are still around working out, running, etc., but it’s all voluntary at this point until July 25. Smith and Kubiak aren’t around, nor are any of the other coaches. In fact, the entire office will be on vacation starting this Saturday for the entire Fourth of July week.

So there you go. I'll be writing a followup.

[barrett]

thought so. i mean winston is doing field reporting at country music concerts... they are not "in the off season program". they are "in the off season".

after the 4th i imagine some signings will start creeping in for our remaining 5. maybe one or two a week. does anyone know if any of them have the same agents as each other or as other Texans players?