The Texans are playing football again tonight, but it's not a typical preseason game.
Houston faces the Chicago Bears, and they're doing so at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio. The day after tomorrow, the franchise's first great--Andre Johnson--will get enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame itself butts up against the north sideline stands. Behind the south sideline stands is McKinley High School, a longtime powerhouse in football. Texans Wide Receivers Coach/Offensive Passing Game Coordinator Ben McDaniels is a McKinley alum, and played here 30-some years ago. In fact, to get into the stadium, the Texans exited their team buses and walked down a school hallway to get here. Mingled with signs directing them to the stadium, were school lockers and classrooms that will soon be full in the coming weeks when school begins.
The Goodyear Blimp is circling lazily above, and traffic rumbles by on I-77 just east of the stadium.
Tonight we won't likely see many of the Texans who will start in the regular season, but we'll get the first look at them in their re-designed unis. The Liberty White Jersey and the Deep Steel Blue pants are the combo this evening.
Football is back, and we'll surely see Johnson interviewed during a chunk of this game. He'll get to slide his Gold Jacket on for good on Saturday afternoon, and his former Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak will present him to the world before that.
It's a celebratory weekend: tonight with the return of game action and Saturday with Johnson joining the greatest to ever suit up as professional football players.
Thank goodness football is back, and Andre Johnson is where he belongs, in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
