Wednesday was a good thing for the Houston Texans.
Staying home for their regular-season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 10, while Houston deals with the aftereffects of Hurricane Harvey, is another matter.
“I think that would be the most important thing for the people, knowing how much people care about football in Houston,” Texans linebacker Brian Cushing told the Houston Chronicle.
“For us to play that first game at home, it would smooth a lot of things over. I’m not saying completely, but I believe it would help.”
The most important thing?
That’s football mentality for you. Sure, the opener has been circled on the calendar for months and staging it as scheduled at NRG Stadium would provide a boost of civic pride.
But it’s too early to declare that having this game in Houston is the right thing.
The Texans' preseason finale against the Dallas Cowboys was scrapped Wednesday once it finally became possible for Houston's players to return home. The exhibition, scheduled for Thursday, had been relocated to Arlington, Texas, and 40,000 tickets were sold to fans who believed they would be supporting relief efforts.
Here’s hoping common sense prevails as the NFL determines what to do with the Texans’ next game. Given Houston's stretched resources and the condition of the region’s infrastructure, the easiest solution would be to flip home dates between the AFC South rivals, which would put the Dec. 17 game slated for Jacksonville in Houston. That would mean the Texans would open the season with three consecutive road games, and the Jags would do likewise to close the season.
So be it.
Cushing, like his coach, Bill O’Brien, can’t be knocked for having can-do spirit. Yet given the devastation left by the storm, which broke the U.S. rainfall record and dumped more than 50 inches on Houston, the current priority there has to do with search, rescue and recovery. There are evacuation centers all across the region. Thousands have lost homes. Transportation has been short-circuited.
The Texans, diverted to Dallas this week after a Saturday night exhibition at New Orleans, are feeling all of this. And we know that star defensive end J.J. Watt gets it. Banking on his platform and popularity, he began a fund-raising campaign Sunday with a goal of $200,000. By Wednesday, he'd raised more than $6 million and was hoping to reach $10 million. Good thing he’s not just sticking to sports.
Still, seeing the comments from Cushing and O’Brien — while Houston is still in life-saving mode — made me wonder about perspective. Should the city even think about hosting a football game in less than two weeks?
“If our stadium’s ready to go, it’s important to have that game at home,” O’Brien said. “Maybe it gives our fans a chance, for three hours at least, to cheer and kind of forget about the trials and tribulations of what would be the last two weeks.
“I think we have the best fans, anyway, so imagine what NRG Stadium will be like for that first home game. Football’s big in Texas, anyway, but when you put it in Houston and take into consideration such a catastrophic event, football becomes even bigger. It gives our fans a chance to cheer and let off some steam.”
Memo to O’Brien: It’s not just about the condition of the stadium.
He means well, offering hope. Maybe in a week, O’Brien’s sentiments would be spot on.
But now? His comments sound too much like they’re coming from a football coach with a limited view of a bigger picture. Should resources needed to deal in a post-Harvey world be diverted for a game?
The NFL, pondering alternatives, is in no rush to make a decision.
After Katrina, the New Orleans Saints spent an entire season on the road. At the moment, the Texans and league, which has moved games in recent years on short notice amid weather-related issues, need to wait and see how the recovery unfolds in the coming days.
The NFL usually gets it right in these situations. Its decision may ultimately be swung by the importance of civic pride that could be boosted by a game and whether that dovetails with critical assets needed for recovery efforts.
Cushing and O’Brien, meanwhile, are hardly alone in their sentiments.
“I’m cautiously optimistic they they’ll play the opener here,” Max Edison, sports editor of The Houston Defender, told USA TODAY Sports. “Hopefully, in 12 days, it will be the kind of diversion where people will say, ‘Let’s get back to normal.’ By then, people will be looking for that alternative. And nothing says that like football in Texas.
“From the high school games, to colleges to the Texans, football will help the motivation and bring the area back. That’s going to be the reward for all the hard work that will be needed with the recovery.”
Or so it is suggested.
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Follow NFL columnist Jarrett Bell on Twitter @JarrettBell
