Tight end Joel Dreessen caught the first two touchdowns of his career last year.
From an early age, Texans tight end Joel Dreessen knew he wanted to live either in his native Colorado or Texas. Well, he got his wish. Dreessen is loving life here in the Lone Star State and couldn't be happier under Texans head coach Gary Kubiak.
1. How does it feel for training camp to be over?
"It's a weird feeling because when you start there really is no light at the end of the tunnel. You get surprised when you are in the grind of training camp and the days start going by faster, and all of the sudden it's the middle of August already and you're playing your preseason games. Then it starts to pick up. It's definitely nice to have the end of the preseason in sight, but we've still got work to do and we're going to keep on going."
2. What did you try to improve upon the most during training camp?
"Definitely my play at the line of scrimmage. There were a lot of things that I tried to improve upon, but I pinpoint my play at the line of scrimmage as far as doing what coach (Alex) Gibbs and coach John Benton wanted us to do. Running the football is very important because that sets up our entire offense. Blocking well at the point of attack, I've been watching Mark Bruener a lot and he's definitely helped me with that. Also, beating man coverage was important to me and my route running, so I watched Owen (Daniels) and tried to do a lot of the things he did. I definitely have some guys to learn from here."
{QUOTE}3. What game are you looking forward to the most this season?
"It sounds so cliché, and I'm going to sound like a coach and everyone's probably going to make fun of me, but every single game. Every single game you get to walk on the field as an NFL player is a blessing. I look forward to each and every Sunday, take one at a time and put my best foot forward every single Sunday."
4. What's the toughest part of the tight end position?
"I would say the skill set in general at the tight end position. You've got to be good at a lot of things. You've got to be able to control the defensive end in the run game. You've got to be able to drive block him. You've got to be able to control him in pass protection and stop guys like Mario Williams from beating you to the quarterback. Then you have to have the skill set to get open versus man coverage and beat safeties and linebackers. Then you've got to be able to make tough catches. Last but not least, you've got to be able to do something when the ball is in your hands. I'd say it's a very diverse position."
5. What's it like having so many people on the team that attended Colorado State University?
"It's so awesome. I think there are five of us right now and it's so much fun. I own a house down here and two of them live with me. The guys on the team make fun of us. They call it the CSU dormitories, but everyone's always over at our house eating dinner or hanging out because it's a fun place to be. It's a blessing and a lot of fun."
6. If you weren't playing football, what would you be doing career-wise?
"Thank God, that's always been plan 'B' because I have no idea. I really don't. I've always taken the mentality of, 'I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.' Hopefully, one of these days football will open up some doors for me in regards to a second career. I guess we'll just wait and see."
7. If you weren't a tight end, what position would you choose to play?
"I would probably just be a wide receiver so I could run more routes and catch more balls; get a little bit more glory. My passion is having the football in my hands and making tough catches."
8. What do you like the most about playing for the Houston Texans?
"Just living in Texas honestly. I grew up in Colorado, and I always said that I would want to be in Colorado or Texas. I love living in Texas. The lifestyle is definitely a little slower and it suits me more. I love hunting and things like that. Playing for coach Kubiak has been awesome. They've been fair to me, so just living in Texas and playing for an honest head coach."
9. What do you think about David Anderson's hair?
"(laughs) I love it. That's the thing, David's always been a guy to keep things loose. I tend to take things too seriously at times and get stressed out about stuff. David helps to balance me out a little bit with his antics. We're stretching in line, and he's doing impersonations and cracking jokes. It's fun to have him around. I love his hair. I think it looks great. It looks better than he would have it normally, to be honest with you."
10. What do you do in your spare time?
"I have a little archery target set up alongside my house. I shoot my bow and arrow. I hang out with the roommates. We go bowling a lot, those kinds of things. What else do I do? That's about all I have time for. That's a tough question because we don't have much spare time."
