The Houston Texans kicked off the annual Salute to Service Week on Monday with the Stars & Strikes bowling event featuring five Texans players, Cheerleaders, Ambassadors, Lady Texans and more than 100 active-duty members of the United States military. The Texans worked with Official Military Appreciation Sponsor, USAA, to create this exclusive event for local service members.
The event, located at 300 Houston, allowed members of the Houston Texans to interact with men and women serving and protecting the country. Each team of military personnel was paired up with a Texans celebrity and had the opportunity to socialize while enjoying food, music and bowling.
Texans center Ben Jones attended the event and was thrilled at the chance to interact with America's heroes.
"Anything I can to do talk to them, to take their mind off of that, because what they're doing for our country is amazing," Jones said. "I'm just happy to be out here with them and getting to talk to them about their day to day lives."
Kicker Shayne Graham also took time to meet with soldiers and expressed his admiration for what the Texans organization does for Salute to Service Week.
"To be a part of that means a lot to me because I've always been very involved with a lot of different organizations that benefit the military and veterans, active guys and deployed guys," Graham said. "It's just great to be able to be part of a team that has so much support for them."
Klaus Riel, a member of the United States military and resident of Spring, Texas, relished in the fun of the evening while bowling on Graham's team.
"It means the world to us," Riel said. "We work hard every day, and we support our Texans. We're very proud of the Texans."
The week of events will lead up to the team's annual Salute to Service game presented by Bud Light, which is one of the Texans' most popular game themes each year. The Texans will host the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Nov. 4 at Noon CT.
