Offensive linemen often are characterized as being underappreciated and for all of the grunt work that they do in the trenches. Indeed, the spotlight rarely shines on the linemen that make offenses fire on all cylinders, especially compared to position players such as quarterbacks, running backs and wide receivers.
But there's two offensive linemen on the Texans that no longer can complain of being under-recognized. In fact, after all of the attention that Chester Pitts and Ephraim Salaam received Sunday during their 60-second commercial that aired in the Super Bowl XLII telecast, they may be the most recognizable players on the team aside from Andre Johnson, Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans.
The ad, which you can view here, as well as the "Behind the Scenes" clip, have received widespread acclaim. Even Time.com reviewed the ad, giving it a 'B.' Yahoo.com gave the commercial 'honorable mention' status, while the Chicago Sun-Times also had nice things to say about the ad. The story has been well-documented (read HoustonTexans.com writer Nick Scurfield's account here).
In a nutshell, Salaam encouraged Pitts to walk-on to the San Diego State football team when Pitts was bagging Salaam's groceries in college. Several years later, Salaam and Pitts play next to each other on the Texans' offensive line.
The team and the players owe a lot of thanks to the fans that voted for Salaam and Pitts at NFL.com/superad.
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