Rosevelt Colvin grew up in Indianapolis, but has several family members that live in the Houston area.
The Texans made it clear this offseason that they were looking for a player to improve their pass rush. On Monday, that search ended when Houston signed former New England Patriots linebacker Rosevelt Colvin to join a defense full of young former first-round draft picks.
"I think just the opportunity to come to a new team, a fresh start, something different is exciting to me," Colvin said. "That's sort of icing on the cake with the young guys that they have that they've been able to develop the last couple of years on the defensive side of the ball. I would never say or try to proclaim that I'm the answer and I'm going to be the person that's going to propel them to Super Bowl championships.
"I'm excited about the opportunity. New faces, new situation, new community, new team, hopefully same old Rosey which is a guy that goes out, works hard and does everything he can to make plays and win games."
Colvin (6-3, 250) has made a name for himself in the league as an outside rusher. Last season, however, he was limited by a foot injury and registered one interception and only four sacks in 10 starts for the AFC Champions. With five games left in the season, he was placed on injured reserve and was released by New England in late February.
In two healthy seasons, the 10th-year pro led the Patriots with 8.5 sacks in 2006 and with 7.0 sacks in 2005.
Colvin passed his physical in Houston, and the Texans believe the healthy 30-year-old will excel in their scheme as an edge rusher that can complement defensive end Mario Williams. The team may not use Colvin as an every-down linebacker; instead, he could come in as a situational rusher on passing downs.
"I've been cleared for a long time to do any and everything to sort of go out and prepare myself, so going out on the field is not something that I'm limited on," Colvin said. "I just hadn't had a team that I could do it for, so now that I have an employer, I can go out and try to perform the best I can."
{QUOTE}After the Texans met with Colvin in early June, general manger Rick Smith began negotiating with the linebacker's agent, Kennard McGuire, who lives in Houston and represents wide receiver André Davis.
This isn't the first time Smith has pursued Colvin. When Smith was a coach at Purdue in 1995, he recruited the linebacker to play for the Boilermakers.
"When I was coming out of Broad Ripple High School, he (Smith) came down and worked me out at the gym after basketball practice and he pretty much wanted to see what I could do," said Colvin who grew up in Indianapolis and has grandparents in the Houston area. "I really was hungry then. I needed somebody to believe in me. Same situation (now), but I think a little more convincing had to be done on this time around, just because I'm 30 years old and I'm at a point in my life where there are other priorities whereas back then I just had to worry about myself.
"My big hang-up was commitment. It was making sure that when I told my wife and my children, 'We're going to be moving somewhere,' that it's not going to be moving somewhere for two or three months and then we have to pick up and move again."
In his nine-year career, Colvin has played in 117 games with 75 starts for the Chicago Bears (1999-2002) and Patriots (2003-2007), recording 52.5 sacks and 360 tackles.
He was drafted by Chicago in 1999 and started 36 games at defensive end in the Bears' 4-3 defense. He recorded consecutive 10.5-sack seasons in his final two seasons with Chicago, leading the team in sacks both times.
After signing in New England in 2003, Colvin moved to outside linebacker in the Pats' 3-4 scheme and went on to earn two Super Bowl rings with the team.
"My passion is rushing the passer," Colvin said. "It's something I feel like I do well. I can bring some experience into a team. I feel like I'm versatile enough to play a couple of different positions.
"But I think as we try to go forward from here, the most important thing is that I remain healthy. Not just myself, but everybody on the team. I'll try to get my role and what that's going to be. Like I said, what position that will be remains to be seen, but just the opportunity to get in here and speak with the coaching staff and get an opportunity to gel with the other players is the most important thing."
Colvin's signing brings the Texans' roster to 84, and the team must release four players by the start of training camp to get down to the league limit of 80. On Friday, the Texans cut safety Curome Cox, a fourth-year pro, and rookie wide receiver Ryan Grice-Mullen.
Click **here** to listen to more from Colvin and McGuire in Monday's "Texans Today" podcast.
Click **here** to subscribe to the daily "Texans Today" podcast.
