Charlie Frazier is a Houston Oilers legend who attended Texas Southern University.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article first appeared in the *Houston Texans Gameday magazine on Aug. 31, 2009, for Houston's preseason game at home against the Minnesota Vikings.
***Charlie “The Razor” Frazier***, a star wide receiver for the Houston Oilers from 1962-68, is entering his fourth season as a Houston Texans Ambassador.*
Former teachers often have a knack for seeing their old students after they've graduated. Former Houston Oilers wide receiver Charlie Frazier is no exception.
Frazier, who followed up his nine-year professional football career with stints as a college coach and an educator at Houston's John Reagan High School, often runs into old pupils when signing autographs and meeting with fans as a Texans Ambassador.
"While I'm doing my ambassadorship, sometimes they'll come to the table, and I sign autographs for them and that sort of thing and they'll say, 'Coach, do you remember when I played for you at such and such a time?'" Frazier said.
Working in his fourth season as an Ambassador, Frazier even ran into an old student during a visit to Texans training camp this year.
"I had almost forgotten who he was because it's been so long," Frazier said. "But he's married now and got a family and that type of thing. It's always good to see that they're doing well."
As a college product of his hometown Texas Southern University, Frazier played with the Oilers during their AFL years, starring for the team from 1962 until 1968. Nicknamed "The Razor," Frazier made the Pro Bowl in 1966 after catching 12 touchdown passes and recording 1,129 receiving yards, two totals that ranked among the top three in the league.
{QUOTE}After leaving the Oilers in 1968, Frazier played two seasons with the Boston Patriots before retiring from football and moving home to Houston. He spent the next eight years working for various college football programs, spending a year at Rice and one at Tulsa before heading to TCU for six seasons. He then settled back in Houston, assuming his teaching job at Reagan before retiring for good in 2006.
In addition to seeing his old pupils, Frazier is a fan of how the Texans Ambassadors program brings together some of his old teammates. Frazier said that when the Oilers were still in Houston, team owner Bud Adams would host a yearly get-together of team alumni. But with the franchise's move to Tennessee in 1997, reunions with old teammates were few and far between – until Frazier began serving as a Texans Ambassador.
"We (would) kind of only get together sometimes to play golf, of if there was a golf tournament or something of that nature," Frazier said. "It's been great to see some of the guys all the time that you don't see often."
As for this year's upcoming season, Frazier has high hopes that the Texans will finally break through with the first winning season in team history, with a possible trip to the playoffs next on the horizon.
"They're on the verge of it, now they just have to break through," Frazier said. "And I think that barring any real serious injuries to any major players, they'll be OK, because they look like in the offseason they've made some good moves, and hopefully those moves will pay off."
Beyond cheering on the Texans and greeting Houston fans at home games and other team events, Frazier is simply glad to be back in the mix with professional football in Houston.
"It's been a pleasure so far to be working as an Ambassador, and I hope that I can continue to do so," Frazier said. "I appreciate the opportunity so much."
