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So Jadeveon Clowney it is, the defensive end from South Carolina. The Texans introduced Clowney to the media today at Reliant Stadium.
“I’m just ready to get going with these guys and let them show my way through the NFL,” Clowney said. “You got great leaders on this team – J.J. Watt, Brian Cushing, Johnathan Joseph. To be part of these guys is just an honor, so for me and my family… It’s just a dream come true for me.”
Houston Texans manager Rick Smith (left) and coach Bill O’Brien introduce Jadeveon Clowney to the Houston media
Many sports commentators and even Texans owner Bob McNair have said Clowney is the best player in this year’s draft.
At the same time, there was a popular demand for Johnny Manziel, the quarterback from Texas A&M.
Now that the deed is done, are Houston fans behind their first pick?
“I agree with them going for defense,” said Buster Schroeder from Houston. “Defense wins championships.”
Fellow Houstonian George Chin also likes the Texans’ choice.
“I’m very pleased with their choices,” he said, “although we did see our other hometown boy, Manziel, sit on the side. But all in all I’m very, very pleased. Looking forward to a good year from the Texans this year.”
John Barnette from Brenham, on the other hand, was a little disappointed.
“No, I think they should have taken Manziel, just the whole big marketing excitement thing,” he said. “But I know the other guy is a good lineman and everything, but I think they missed a good marketing opportunity.”
He said if Manziel played for the Texans, he and his wife would have found a way to come to some of the games.
Clowney said he considers playing for the Texans “a great adventure”
Dale Robertson, a sports writer with the Houston Chronicle, who has covered the NFL since the 1970s, said the Texans made the safe pick.
“It’s hard to second-guess a team for taking a player that’s supposed to be a one-in-a-generation talent at his position and Jadeveon Clowney clearly is,” he said. “Difficult draft for them because they really do need a quarterback, but there just wasn’t a quarterback in the mix that was really deserving of that top pick.”
Manziel, who is often referred to as Johnny Football, was finally picked by the Cleveland Browns at No. 22. Robertson said Manziel is an exciting player and great to watch.
“That made him a more attractive pick for fans, certainly in this part of the country because he played at Texas A&M, than in the cold, hard, you know, war room logic that you get from scouts and people in football, they find a lot of flaws.”
Robertson said with Clowney, J.J. Watt and Brian Cushing – if the latter can stay healthy – the Texans defense will be very strong and enable Houston to win at least half of their games next season.
“But Super Bowl…,” Robertson said, “probably not.”
Clowney shows off his brand new Houston Texans jersey with the No. 90