The Texans helped to bolster their pass rush, signing former Patriots outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin on Monday. Colvin, a 10th-year pro, sat down with Texans TV's Brooke Bentley to answer fan questions in a three-part interview. Enjoy Part 2.
3. David Newell (Missouri City, TX): A lot of people thought you were going to sign with the Colts. You are from Indy and they wanted a pass rusher to help Dwight Freeney. How close were you to playing for Tony Dungy?
Rosevelt Colvin: We had a few teams that were interested and it boiled down to commitment. As I said, my wife and my children are very important to me. Making a decision based on their stability was huge. A lot of teams that were interested weren't willing to commit to me as a player, as far as who I am and what I've done. The two teams that it really came down to were the Colts and the Texans because, like you said, I was born and raised in Indianapolis and it would make things logistically so much easier. You don't have to worry about travel. You don't have to worry about baby sitters because you have your family there. My wife and I have two UPS stores in the city of Indianapolis, so it was almost a perfect situation to an extent. When the Texans got involved, it kind of changed the plans up a little bit. I think it was 50-50. I think this was the best situation for us and I'm happy with it and we'll move forward.
{QUOTE}4. David Newell (Missouri City, TX): You played for the Patriots for five years. Their big rival is Indy. How do you feel you've played against the Colts in the past and do you think your experience against the Colts in those heated games will help the Texans?
Rosevelt Colvin: I definitely think the opportunity to play for the Patriots the last five years is going to be beneficial for my career going forward, not just from a football standpoint but from a business standpoint. You look at the way that Mr. (Robert) Kraft , Scott (Pioli) and Bill (Belichick) try to run the team. It gives you an opportunity to sit back and look at a great business model. I've taken some of those things and implemented them on a smaller scale on what my wife and I own.
From a football standpoint, definitely Bill Belichick is one of the greatest football minds I've ever been around, as far as being able to know the game regardless of what position your play, what side of the ball or phase of the game you are in. He can tell you everything you should or need to do to be successful. I'm going to take that and, on top of that, the opportunity to be in those heated battles with the Colts it does give me the opportunity to come here and maybe give some of the insight that I had when I was in New England – that Bill had, that the coaches have had – and sort of offer it to the coaching staff and see if they would like to hear what, how and why we attacked them to see if they would like to change something. Ultimately, the decision is up to the coaches. I'm not a guy that comes in and tries to take over and make changes. I'm all about the team and trying to make that system work. As long as we get victory in the end, that's the most important thing. I think the insight and experience can definitely help and will help. My performances in the past against the Colts have been good; hopefully, we can continue that in the future.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): That can be very helpful for a young Texans defense. We have a very young defensive line.
Rosevelt Colvin: I think a lot of times you get into situations where you have an older team and they compete against a younger team and the younger team doesn't necessarily have the confidence because they haven't been successful, and the older has more confidence because they are older and they feel like they should win the game. I have no fear of a particular team or a particular player, so I'll try to instill that into the guys and help them understand that we are all men and we are all professionals. Hopefully, they will continue to work as hard as they have this offseason from what I've seen in the last couple of days and put that into play next season.
5. Kyle Rasmussen (Portland, TX): Can you please sack Peyton Manning?
Rosevelt Colvin: As he is a Texans fan and he's probably watched many of the games against the Colts, it's a difficult thing to do but I'll try to do my best. At the same time, hopefully, we can get some other guys free and get to him. He's a great quarterback, but if you can't get to him, he'll just sit back there and pick you apart.
6. Brendan Keener: Mario Williams has said his favorite quarterback to sack is Vince Young. Who is your favorite quarterback to sack in the NFL?
Rosevelt Colvin: I would have to say any quarterback, just because it's a sack. I say it all the time, I love rushing the passer because I compare rushing the passer and getting a sack to a dunk or a three-point shot in basketball or a home run in baseball. It's just a momentum changer. It's something that not everybody can do. I don't have a particular one, anybody that's back there. If you've got the ball, getting to you is a priority. I hate to put a particular quarterback on the spot, some quarterbacks are more elusive than others. I would say any quarterback is my favorite one.
Brooke Bentley: I loved what you said yesterday. You said, "My passion is to rush the quarterback."
Rosevelt Colvin: I developed that at an early age. My first time ever playing organized football was in the seventh grade. I had to sneak out for the football team. My mother didn't even know about it because she didn't want me to get hurt. In the seventh grade, I played with the eight graders because I had a knack for getting off on the football and getting into the backfield.
As I got to Purdue, we had a d-line coach who is the defensive line coach now at Cleveland. He came in and gave me what I needed to formulate a plan to be a pass rusher. His name is Randy Melvin. Ever since then, I've just continued to excel at it. I have a couple of moves that I like and those get me to where I need to be.
Brooke Bentley: Who are the more elusive quarterbacks in the NFL?
Rosevelt Colvin: With Michael Vick leaving last year, unfortunately, the league took a hit with that situation. But you look at guys like Vince Young. You look at guys that are mobile. I have so many things on my mind right now that it's kind of difficult.
Obviously, in this division Vince Young is very elusive. You look at (David) Garrard in Jacksonville. Although he's not a quarterback that you would look at in the aspect of Michael Vick or Vince Young. But he's a heavier quarterback, so he is able to shred off tacklers and move around to the point where he is able to get into position to make a play down the field. You definitely have to be prepared for any and every player.
Preview: In Part 3, Colvin talks about the differences between playing in 4-3 and 3-4 defenses.
