The Houston Texans 2023 Media Day for players took place on Monday inside NRG Stadium. From an H-Town inspired set to breaking out into a Griddy for a Gameday video board timeout, check out Jalen Pitre's packed day.
12:11 p.m. Pitre comes out of the locker room in the first of his two looks, full home uniform. After a quick intro video for social, we head to the North Dock for the H-Town inspired set that's been assembled over the weekend.
The Texans in-house video production crew is shooting videos and photos with five or six smaller sets rolled into this big one. Pitre looks to be the first to arrive on set. He starts off underneath a massive display with highway signs for 610 and Kirby hanging above a backlit "H-Town Made" display. Fitting for the second-year player who grew up in Stafford, just 15 minutes from NRG Stadium. Pitre starts his day here bouncing between sets, posing, pointing, flexing and then doing it all over again with a helmet.
12:28 p.m. Pitre moves to the static portions of the set and gets photos taken. One of the setups is map of Houston.
Because the set is dark (with the exception of the backlighting), Pitre asks if Stafford was on the map. It was, someone on set confirms.
12:35 p.m. Pitre heads to the second set, a photo backdrop just a few hundred feet away. There, the photographers ask about his tattoos.
"It's like my whole life here," Pitre says while showing his left arm.
This offseason, the second-year safety got some new ink, including "Stafford" in big block letters. That's definitely its own closeups, which will be used for graphics. Harsh lighting and shadows are amped up for the Texans new campaign look.
12:45 p.m. Pitre wraps up at the photo station. The social team asks for his autograph on an iPad. The digital signature will get placed on a social media post at some point this season.
Derek Stingley Jr. walks by and the two comment on each other's uniforms looking sharp.
12:47 p.m. Pitre walks into the Green Room. Drake's "Wants and Needs" is playing loudly. In this room, Jackie Maldonado, Texans Director of Game Presentation and Live Entertainment Producer, will get players to tell fans to get loud, or quiet down or celebrate. She gives Pitre a few lines she wants him to yell out.
Pitre goes through every instruction as players begin filing in behind him: Jimmie Ward, Kenyon Green. The music changes a few times for Jalen to hit some celebratory moves: The Dougie, the Griddy, and a few he makes up along the way. The entire room is impressed.
We grab a golf cart to cut across the stadium floor (it's concrete these days) and head over to the visiting locker room for Pitre's next assignment.
1:01 p.m. Broadcast Network
CBS, the NFL and networks bring their own videographer and photographers to capture assets for their network. Stingley is finishing up here (we appear behind him in the Media Day schedule). Pitre takes over at the white backdrop for his shot list. As he is getting pictures taken, rookie Tank Dell arrives and watches for a bit. When Pitre finishes, the two dap each other up before Pitre heads to the second broadcast photo booth through a black curtain.
1:17 p.m. Stingley wraps up and the two swap places. Pitre walks in front of the green screen background.
"Let's start with the personality stuff," the videographer says.
Pitre goes through his celebrations, flexing, pointing to his jersey, pretending the ball is stuck to his hands (his signature "Sticky Hands" celebration from last season) until the crew is satisfied they have what they need.
1:28 p.m. We grab a golf cart to head back to the locker room for Pitre's second and final look. On the way, I learn that Pitre actually does NOT like to have his picture taken. I'm shocked.
"I rather it be off guard, a little more natural," he admits.
He feels the same about his celebrations after big plays, Pitre adds. He prefers to have something organic, that comes naturally.
1:44 p.m. Now in the homestretch of his hectic Media Day schedule, Pitre changes into his Battle Red uniform. It's his favorite Gameday look, he shares. The only thing that could make it better is if the Texans bring back some red pants too.
1:47 p.m. "Where is the DJ?"
A slow song is playing. Pitre jokes that the DJ from earlier must have left.
We head back to the first set where Jalen will run through pictures and videos again from earlier, this time clad in Battle Red. Only a handful of players are needed for this look, so Jalen gets a second go-around at this station. However, it's much busier now. Jonathan Greenard, Stingley, Dell, Steven Nelson, Christian Harris, Davis Mills and a number of other Texans players are on set.
2:05 p.m. Pitre finally gets called up and while he's in front of the lens, Drake pops up on the same song that's still playing from earlier.
"Uh, thinking 'bout Texas, back when Porsche used to work at Treasures.
Or further back than that, before I had the Houston leverage."
Harris looks over at Pitre noticing the new ink on his arm.
"Tat looks clean, P," Harris says.
"Now it's therapeutic blowing money in the Galleria," Drake sings.
Hometown Pitre can appreciate these lyrics. We finish his list of stations and there's one station not on his list that he is torn on checking out. Pitre wants to get in a yoga session to get ready for minicamp, which starts Tuesday morning. Curiosity gets the best of him and he agrees to one more quick stop.
2:17 p.m. Video game station
After handing me his helmet, Pitre walks through an door marked "Social #1" which conceals a video gaming station that includes an NBA hoops arcade game. Pitre talks some trash with the mannequin meant to scare players as he picks up a basketball and immediately begins shooting hoops. The mannequin joins in for a bit. A few minutes later, a confetti cannon blasts pastel-colored scraps of paper all over the room. With a few pieces still left in his hair, Pitre walks out of the room and climbs back into the golf cart, smiling.
2:20 p.m. After a quick ride back, Pitre steps out of the golf cart and walks into the locker room to change back into street clothes. His day is finally done.
