Editor's note:Tight end **Owen Daniels* will be providing periodic diary entries for HoustonTexans.com to give fans insight into the life of a rookie draft pick. *
Sunday's game was an unbelievable game, even if I wasn't out there to contribute. But it wasn't just Sunday that was great…the days leading up to the game, the practices, and the meetings, there was a different feeling to it all. I honestly saw people act differently and people were more motivated. It was something I wish that I could see out of the team every week. We were very well-prepared. We were focused. Everyone had a lot of confidence, and everyone was highly motivated despite the fact that we really didn't have anything to play for except to beat a team that we had never beaten. It was awesome to see, and fun to be a part of.
I think for us to be the team that we want to be – a winning team – we need to be able to bring that energy every week. For some reason, it wasn't there every week this year. I could tell the difference between this week and the week before. I think we'll be fine in the future. We just have to figure out how to do that every week.
I've only been part of one game where we've won on a last-minute field goal. It really is something awesome to see. When we sent out the special teams to go for the field goal, I knew Kris Brown would make it. We had our special teams meeting Saturday night before the game and coach Joe Marciano went around the room and asked the guy how they'd done throughout the week. Chad Stanley said he'd been hitting them great. Then Joe asked Kris how he'd been kicking through the week and he said, "I've been hitting them perfect."
Based on that, I knew it was a done deal and I thought, 'He's going to make this. There is no chance he's going to miss.' I was watching coach Kubiak because he doesn't like to watch those kicks. In situations like that, he just turns his back and walks away to wait for the crowd reaction. We were kicking on the south end and coach Kubiak turned around and walked north so he wouldn't see what would happen. So I watched him walk around, but I had to turn to watch Kris and see his reaction, which was sweet. We need more weekends like that for sure.
Now we know we can play with Indy. We knew we could play with Tennessee. We knew that we could beat Jacksonville, obviously, and now as a franchise we know that we can go toe-to-toe with Indy and beat them as long as we're prepared and we play well. It's going to help us a lot in the future.
I'm still trying to get my shoulder healthy. I am trying to get my range of motion back and trying to get the strength back in the muscles because since I hurt it I really haven't used it much. I'm just trying to wake up all the muscles and get those things going and just try to get it where I'm not in pain. Since it's my throwing arm, I can't really throw much so I guess I really won't be a backup quarterback any time soon. Christmas day we went out to play some catch and I couldn't throw a ball without my shoulder hurting a little bit.
Speaking of Christmas, I hope you all had a great holiday season. Christmas was great for me. We had a great meal with some good friends. I got to open some presents that my parents sent me. I'd wanted some stuff to wash my car on my own instead of taking it somewhere to get it done. My parents sent me a bucket, a hose, a spray nozzle and some car washing soaps. They also sent me a spray that makes my tires shiny and leather wipes for the interior, a chamois to dry off without leaving water marks and streaks. I can't wait to use it, because my car is dirty. My car is so dirty that it looks gray, but it's really black.
I also got some pictures. My parents took pictures of me when I was playing at Wisconsin and one of the shots from when I scored against Jacksonville, and they had them charcoaled. The pictures are so sweet. I'm going to get them framed when my parents come home.
Like I said previously, David Anderson and Mike Brisiel stayed over Christmas Eve to wake up to open gifts. I got Dave a snow globe with a polar bear in it. He'd left one of his hats at my house a while ago, so I wrapped that up and gave it to him. I got him a Nike knit cap with a bill on it (he played ball at Colorado State) and the "Boondock Saints" movie. If you've never seen that, I recommend you run to your local video store right now and buy it. Buy it, don't rent it. It's that good.
[
](http://store.houstontexans.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1865446&cp=2237490&parentPage=family&clickid=mainnavgeartxt&parentPage=family)Brisiel decided to come over last minute, so I stopped at the store on my way back from the game. We got him some candy, potato chips, fishing lures and "The Rock." Most of the gifts were just jokes since we just really wanted to have gifts to open and have a good time.
I'm looking forward to another great weekend. Hopefully, I can get out on the field on Sunday and help the team finish the season on a good note. Of course, a bunch of family is coming down along with my best buddy, Jeff, and his girlfriend. Come back next week for my final thoughts on my rookie season.
Take care,
Owen
Entry 1: **Welcome to training camp** (8/1)
Entry 2: **Adjusting to the NFL** (8/5)
Entry 3: **Getting ready** (8/5)
Entry 4: **Preseason debut** (8/16)
Entry 5: **Road trip** (8/23)
Entry 6: **Changing modes** (8/29)
Entry 7: **Becoming a starter** (9/6)
Entry 8: **Appearances and business** (9/14)
Entry 9: **Cooking 101** (9/21)
Entry 10: **Season outlook** (9/27)
Entry 11: **Different feeling** (10/4)
Entry 12: **Time off** (10/11)
Entry 13: **Shifting gears** (10/19)
Entry 14: **After a win** (10/26)
Entry 15: **The big picture** (11/3)
Entry 16: **Owen's world** (11/09)
Entry 17: **Homecoming** (11/16)
Entry 18: **Holiday traditions** (11/23)
Entry 19: **Looking back** (12/1)
Entry 20: **Loving my job** (12/7)
Entry 20: **Season pains** (12/15)
Entry 21: My broken wing (12/22)
