Hello Texans fans. It's time once again to recognize one of our own. Eric Manselis a die-hard Texans fan and recently I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions:
Where do you call home, Eric? "I live in West Columbia which is a small town south of Houston."
**
So what's your day job?** "I work for a small production company, Hat Digital Media, doing research for Documentaries"
Which team did you root for before the Texans? "I liked the Seahawks for a long time. They had a good team with a lot of talent. I split time between them and the Oilers."
How long have you been a NFL fan?"I was born a fan. I've always loved football since I can remember. I have pictures of me as a kid wearing Oiler t-shirts. My dad would take me to an occasional game at the Astrodome and I remember being in awe of the huge stadium and the players. It was great."
How did you become a Texans fan?"I was actually living in Jacksonville, Florida when I found out that Houston was getting a team. I watched every day since then, through the picking of a name to the colors, and the jersey selection. When we moved back to Texas, Reliant Stadium was half built and just seeing it for the first time made me almost want to cry! We had a team again and I couldn't wait!"
What has been your favorite Texans moment? "Most would say the win over Dallas, and as great as that was I would have to say the Buffalo game last year. It was kind of bittersweet since David Carr got hurt but before that he threw a pass to Andre Johnson and Johnson shed THREE would be tackles and ran for a TD. Just seeing the flash of brilliance at that moment…I knew right then we had a team that could play."
Who's your favorite player? "My all-time favorite player would have to be Barry Sanders. The man was a genius when it came to running the football. He wasn't very fast but he was just awesome. In today's game I would have to go with David Carr. He's well rounded and has a huge opportunity to become great. Johnson, Davis, Glenn, Sharper, Payne, Gaffney, and Wong are some of my other favorites."
Do you have any game day rituals you'd like to share? "Well that's a hard one since I am a Churchgoer. My family and I go to church and take that time to pray for our team and a victory. When we get home IT'S ON! My wife and I get into full Texans mode (she actually gets more emotional than me sometimes) my kids like to watch "mommy" jump around cheering. I try not to jump around too much as I tend to the BBQ but that is kind of hard sometimes."
So where could we find you when you're not at Texans games? "I feel like I'm always in the game, but mostly you can find me at work. We film documentaries, build web sites, do audio work (hatdigitalmedia.com) stuff like that. I'm also at church a lot. I am the assistant youth pastor there and of course at home with the family--playing Madden 2005 as the "guess who-Texans" where I'm the SS. Sorry Eric Brown!
If you had the opportunity to say one thing to owner Bob McNair, what would it be? "I would have to just shake his hand and say thank you. The man not only gave us a GOOD team to watch here in Houston but he surrounded the place with people that I don't mind my kids looking up to. I mean, I really wouldn't want my kids growing up idolizing T.O or Randy Moss when we have Andre Johnson who will be better than both of them simply because he just plays because he loves it."
So what's your favorite college team? "Well unfortunately, I don't really watch much college ball but if I had to choose I would have to say Washington State University (that's where my wife went-hi honey!)"
What's the team that you enjoy beating the most (or would enjoy beating)? "Well, many would say Dallas or the Titans but I will have to say the Packers! They are a very solid team and I would just love to see us put them out for the count! Plus it would be nice to have the future of quarterback of glory beat the future hall of famer. I get chills just thinking about it!
By the way, that picture of me was taken at Belmont University -- smack in the heart of Titan country. I had to represent!
Thanks a lot Eric. Maybe we'll see you at the Packers game.
You can contact the Voice of the Fan at aj_texans@yahoo.com.
