Clowney to IR, Ending His Rookie Season

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by WMH

Seth Payne said something interesting on the radio today regarding Boselli. Per him, the Texans knew he was damaged goods but was required to spend X in the expansion draft. He also said there was likely a handshake deal with the Hags that they would leave him and Gary Walker as eligible for the draft if they cleared Boselli off the books. Interesting thought......

Heard a lot about the Clowney thing today, and as best I could gather was the Texans gambled as to whether or not he could function with just the scope. Turned out he couldn't and this is where we're at. Supposedly he didn't do any more damage to the knee as a resultof trying.

Chatty Casserly was totally obvious about the expansion draft. A team could either draft 38 (I think) players or draft to a certain salary figure. The Browns, the year before, went the first way and basically drafted rubbish (with a few minor exceptions) so Casserly decided to draft to the salary cap.

The Jets, Jaguars and Ravens were in "salary cap hell" over the revised cap levels and needed to get some pricey players off their payrolls. So Casserly approached those three teams with deals to expose good players if we would also draft some bad contracts to help the teams out of their cap positions.

So the Jags exposed Gary Walker and Seth Paine if we'd also draft Boselli.
The Jets exposed Aaron Glenn, Marcus Coleman and Ryan Young and the Ravens exposed Jamie Sharper and Jermaine Lewis. There were a couple of other names that escape me but, essentially, there were quid pro quos done with all three teams and it was a brilliant gambit. It set Dom Capers up with a strong veteran defense from the very beginning while he tried to build a young and inexperienced offense.

Unfortunately, Boselli and Young were garbage and Capers forgot to do anything about building an offensive line for David Carr who turned to jello after a few seasons of setting sack records for a QB. Lots of folks forget we were 7-9 just three years into expansion before it all caved in on itself.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Lots of folks forget we were 7-9 just three years into expansion before it all caved in on itself.

Who cares? Carolina was 7-9 in their first freaking season. Then they went to the conference championship game in their second. Jacksonville was 9-7 in their second year and went to the playoffs four times in their first five seasons. The Texans are a fking joke from the owner on down.

Two other things. The Browns re-entered the league in 1999, not 2001. Also, David Carr sucked not because he had a bad offensive line (which he did). He sucked because he sucked. Suggesting that he would have been successful behind a good line is delusion of the highest order.

[WMH]

Originally Posted by chuck

Who cares? Carolina was 7-9 in their first freaking season. Then they went to the conference championship game in their second. Jacksonville was 9-7 in their second year and went to the playoffs four times in their first five seasons. The Texans are a fking joke from the owner on down.

Two other things. The Browns re-entered the league in 1999, not 2001. Also, David Carr sucked not because he had a bad offensive line (which he did). He sucked because he sucked. Suggesting that he would have been successful behind a good line is delusion of the highest order.

Your hatred of this franchise coupled with the amount of time you spend paying attention to them is truly fascinating.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

Who cares? Carolina was 7-9 in their first freaking season. Then they went to the conference championship game in their second. Jacksonville was 9-7 in their second year and went to the playoffs four times in their first five seasons. The Texans are a fking joke from the owner on down.

Two other things. The Browns re-entered the league in 1999, not 2001. Also, David Carr sucked not because he had a bad offensive line (which he did). He sucked because he sucked. Suggesting that he would have been successful behind a good line is delusion of the highest order.

You are one self hating masochist for the way you frequent message boards of a team you despise like Houston.

It is funny you say the franchise is a joke from the owner down and as proof you cite how great Carolina was there first two years. You can praise a Capers led team as correctly run (Carolina) while eviscerating the Texans for being Capers run. Anything that fits your narrative of Texans incompetence and makes you feel better about your bitterness.

Let me ask you how many teams have won more playoff games than Houston in the last 5 years? How many have won more division titles. I'd imagine about 1/4 of the league has outdone us over that time period, another 1/4 equals us, and half would love to trade places (actual numbers may vary as I took a wild guess).

But you act like the Texans have personally harmed you and the only defense mechanism you have is to tear them down. It's like you need them to be bad so you can hate them instead of loving them and getting heart broken again. So you spew mindless drivel that ignores reality. You are like a divorcee who has to convince herself her ex-husband was the worst person ever to justify leaving. Except you won't leave them.

I can't call myself your friend Chuck because I only know you from an internet message board, but seriously as an internet friend, leave the Texans. It's not a healthy relationship for you.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by barrett

You are one self hating masochist for the way you frequent message boards of a team you despise like Houston.

It is funny you say the franchise is a joke from the owner down and as proof you cite how great Carolina was there first two years. You can praise a Capers led team as correctly run (Carolina) while eviscerating the Texans for being Capers run. Anything that fits your narrative of Texans incompetence and makes you feel better about your bitterness.

Let me ask you how many teams have won more playoff games than Houston in the last 5 years? How many have won more division titles. I'd imagine about 1/4 of the league has outdone us over that time period, another 1/4 equals us, and half would love to trade places (actual numbers may vary as I took a wild guess).

But you act like the Texans have personally harmed you and the only defense mechanism you have is to tear them down. It's like you need them to be bad so you can hate them instead of loving them and getting heart broken again. So you spew mindless drivel that ignores reality. You are like a divorcee who has to convince herself her ex-husband was the worst person ever to justify leaving. Except you won't leave them.

I can't call myself your friend Chuck because I only know you from an internet message board, but seriously as an internet friend, leave the Texans. It's not a healthy relationship for you.

Maybe the Chuckster is afflicted with some kind of new yet undefined form of cyberspace self-mutilation ? Anyway all of your questions/observations are very fair Barrett, I hope the Chuckster gets back with a sincere reply.

[chuck]

Bob goes bragging that the Texans were 7-9 in year three (Three! The next year they were, guess what? 2-14.) and I point out that two other expansion teams did far better, faster. And so I'm some sort of self-hating lunatic that deals in fantasy.

You necks are out of control.

[HPF Bob]

Chuck, I do believe Carr could have been an above-average NFL quarterback with proper protection and handling. His confidence went to zilch once he could no longer trust the players around him to do their jobs and the fan base turned on him during the 2005 season. I point out 7-9 to say we were a competitive NFL team unlike the meme out there that the Texans were never good until Kubiak/Smith came to town. And the 7-9 was really to say that Casserly's approach to the expansion draft was better than the approach the Browns took. I'd still rather start at square one with Carr than start at square one with Tim Couch.

Personally, I wish you'd address the question raised by Barrett and WMH. Why do you care to follow the Texans when they so disgust you? I remember when you used to brag that you were a season ticket holder and, therefore, had a stake in their performance but I haven't heard that line in years so I suspect that's no longer true, particularly since you used to rail against the fan experience of attending games but no longer do.

I also find it amusing that you are more supportive of the baseball franchise that denuded their roster of talent and fielded a true abomination to the sport solely so they could suck so bad as to get the first overall draft choice three years running then can't even sign their top draft choice. Yeah, the Texans sometimes seem poorly run at times but at least they've sniffed a winning season or two recently and don't completely embarrass themselves as often as the Astros do.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

Bob goes bragging that the Texans were 7-9 in year three (Three! The next year they were, guess what? 2-14.) and I point out that two other expansion teams did far better, faster. And so I'm some sort of self-hating lunatic that deals in fantasy.

You necks are out of control.

We are all here for you Chuck.

[Keith]

Can't we all agree that the quixotic plight of a Houston pro football fan can lead someone to wayward tendencies? The years of unfulfilled hopes, the mental and physical anguish incurred over decades of abuse, it leaves a scar.

He is chuck. He is you. He is me. He is all of us.

[Foo'ball Fool]

Originally Posted by chuck

Who cares? Carolina was 7-9 in their first freaking season. Then they went to the conference championship game in their second. Jacksonville was 9-7 in their second year and went to the playoffs four times in their first five seasons. The Texans are a fking joke from the owner on down.

I know I’m jumping in here late. Comparing the expansion teams of 1995 and 1999 to the Texans is almost comparing apples to oranges. In the ‘95 expansion draft, Carolina picked 35 players, and Jacksonville selected 31. In the ’99 expansion draft, the Browns picked up 37 players. in the 2002 expansion draft, the Texans had a choice of taking up to 30 unprotected players or a specified amount of salary cap. There was also some sort of an agreement with the Jags and Jets that they would not protect certain players if the Texans would select a specific player from their roster. From the Jags, the Texans infamously selected Tony Boselli so they could also get Seth Payne and Gary Walker, helping the defense that first year. Likewise, from the Jets, we got Aaron Glenn and Marcus Coleman after we took Ryan Young. 2 starting CBs and 2 starting D linemen to go with 2 O linemen that were worthless to the Texans. The total? 19 players, 2 of whom never played. The Texans had a decent defense in those first years, but with no Boselli or Young, their O-line was a joke. It’s no wonder Carr got sacked so much. The Texans did not pick up the depth in the expansion draft that the other teams did in their draft.
In the ’95 amateur draft, Carolina began with the following picks: 1-1, 1-32, 2-2 (they were stripped of the 2-31 and 6-36 picks because of the way they hired Dom Capers from Pittsburgh), 3-1, 3-34, 4-2, 4-34, 5-1, 5-37, 6-2, 7-1, and 7-41. Jacksonville began with 1-2, 1-31, 2-1, 2-32, 3-2, 3-33, 4-1, 4-36, 5-2, 5-36, 6-1, 6-37, 7-2, and 7-40. In the ’99 draft, the league cut back on the number of picks to Cleveland. They had 1-1, 2-1, 2-14, 3-1, 3-15, 4-1, 4-15, 5-1, 5-15, 6-1, 6-15, 7-1, 7-15, and 7-47. So, Carolina and Jacksonville each started with 14 picks, 2 per round. In 1995. Cleveland also had 14 picks, one in the 1st, 3 in the 7th, and 2 in the others. Houston was set up like Cleveland, except they picked 18th for the second picks in each round, while Cleveland had picked 14th in the 2nd round and 15th after that.
To sum this up, Carolina had 47 drafted players in their 1st camp from their draft. Jacksonville had 45. Cleveland had 51 players, since they selected so many in the expansion draft. Houston’s drafted players? In reality 17 + 14 in the draft makes 31. Houston began with a lot smaller core of talent than the other teams did. So, there were a great number of street free agents in those first few years. So, you really can't compare the expansion Texans to the others. It just won’t fly. Sorry for being long-winded.