Tight end Owen Daniels is headed to Miami this month for quarterback Matt Schaub's bachelor party.
A season in the NFL takes its toll on the body. The Texans have the bruises, stitches and ligament tears to prove it. That's why the end of the year is bittersweet for many of the players. Their bodies are craving rest, but they wish they could be preparing for the playoffs.
"People ask me if I'm excited if the season is over," tight end Owen Daniels said. "I'm not really excited that it's over. I'm excited that we won our last game. That's exciting moving into the next year, but I would like to continue playing because that's why you play."
Daniels won't forget about the playoffs during the offseason, but he won't complain about getting some much-needed rest.
"I'm most excited about relaxing and not having to wake up early in the morning and going to meetings," Daniels said. "I just need to get my mind off of football for a minute."
Most of his teammates feel the same way. As the players milled about Reliant Stadium, waiting to meet with coaches, they talked about the beauty of sleeping late and relaxing on weekends.
"I want to relax and take three weeks off where I don't do anything," rookie defensive tackle Amobi Okoye said. "Then I will get back in shape.
"Right now, my body's so sore I need to dial 911."
Linebacker Danny Clark is going to take time to recharge with his family and celebrate a delayed Christmas.
"On the second week of January, my family does Christmas all over again," Clark said. "The whole family comes over to my house and exchanges gifts and we have a great big dinner. It's something I've been doing since I started in the league because I could never be back for the holidays."
Wide receiver Jacoby Jones will be going back to his collegiate roots at Lane College to finish his degree.
"I'm going to go back to school to get my degree and workout and make my momma proud," Jones said.
Defensive tackle Tim Bulman, who moved up from the practice squad in late December and got substantial playing time against Indy and Jacksonville, plans to return to his hometown of Boston to work on his playing skills.
His Halo 3 playing skills, that is.
"Halo 3 is my new game I've been killing," said Bulman, who is rumored to be the best Halo gamer on the team. "Halo 2 was the old one, but I'll be playing some Halo.
"It'll be good – good to just get a rest, get your mind ready for next year, because I'm ready to roll. So it's going to be a good offseason."
Catching Celtics games also ranks high on Bulman's list.
"Boston's definitely the place to be right now," Bulman said. "So I'm going to go back, definitely catch a couple. My buddy's the ball boy on the team, so I always get Paul Pierce's tickets – really, I don't know whose tickets they are, but they're pretty good."
A few Texans are going international with their time off.
Left tackle Ephraim Salaam is taking his wife on her first European trip.
"We'll go over to Rome, Venice, Italy, all of that good stuff," Salaam said. "I'm excited about it."
Longsnapper Bryan Pittman is considering going to Spain for his honeymoon. Pittman, who is getting married this spring, said that the season's end means the start of wedding duty, which may not be his strong suit.
"I think playing football is a little more difficult," Pittman said. "But there a lot of minor details. Honestly, guys don't care about accent colors for a wedding or how much lighting there will be. As long as the food is good, I'm sure it will be a good time."
Quarterback Matt Schaub will also be heading down in the aisle soon. Before that trip, he and several teammates will head to Miami for a bachelor party.
So from New Year's Day until April 2, the Texans will be scattered across the globe. Most will be resting, a few will be studying and two will be getting married. But all, like Daniels, will be dreaming of a playoff run in 2008.
