HOUSTON – Standing next to Texans director of sports medicine and head athletic trainer Roland Ramirez, a Uvalde native, former Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson surprised the Uvalde High School football team with an invitation to NRG Stadium for their first game of the season.
The Texans are hosting the Coyotes, victorious Friday night in a 34-28 home game, for a Sept. 11 season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.
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Texans giving back in Uvalde to @uvaldehs football team @texanscare photos @HoustonTexans @Kirko58 @k_grugierhill pic.twitter.com/ySaK4z5xoU
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“Come down to Houston, we’re going to provide transportation and put the entire team up and the coaches in a suite in NRG Stadium to come watch us play the Colts and watch us unveil the Uvalde Strong (helmet decal),” Johnson said.
The Texans, in partnership with H-E-B, will cover all costs and details for the Mustangs.
The Texans visited the team the past two days in Uvalde, holding a clinic and providing new uniforms and gear from Nike.
Ramirez, CEO and chair Cal McNair, foundation vice president Hannah McNair, coach Lovie Smith, linebackers Kamu Grugier-H” on thill and Christian Kirksey, cheerleaders and mascot Toro went to Uvalde to spend time with the schoo
The Texans will have the decal “Uvalde Strong” on their helmets for the Colts game.
When the tragedy happened in May at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, the Texans organization and players got involved in the wake of a school shooting that claimed the lives of 19 students and two teachers.
They immediately donated $400,000 to the Robb School Memorial Fund to support a grieving community.
On Friday and Thursday, the Texans are in Uvalde to continue that helping hand.
The Texans surprised the Uvalde High School football at their team dinner and paid for the meal.
They also surprised the players and coaches with brand new jerseys, paints, cleats, socks, gloves and other gear provided by Nike.
More photos of the @HoustonTexans via the team in Uvalde, Texas https://t.co/kOkfLirt2j pic.twitter.com/Xpe5LT6qru
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 2, 2022
The Texans are attending the Uvalde team’s home opener Friday night after remaining in Uvalde to host football camps and clinics for hundreds of youth.
Ramirez knows many of the families who were impacted.
In a somber tone after the shooting, Smith reflected on the incident while wearing an orange T-shirt speaking out against gun violence. The shirt had the words: “We are Texans. We Stand With Uvalde” emblazoned across the front.
Smith, a native of Big Sandy, Tx., expressed his sadness at how these events are becoming far too commonplace. And he’s proud that the Texans players, led by Kirksey, organized a donation of $200,000 to benefit the Robb School Memorial Fund to benefit families of the students and teachers killed in Uvalde. The Texans organization, including the McNair family, matched the donation for a total of $400,000 going toward the local fund.
“Whether it be a church, a grocery store, or a school, it seems like some places should be safe havens for us,” Smith said. “And whether it be young white children in Sandy Hook, older Black grocers in Buffalo, or young brown people, children, there seems like something has to be done. I don’t have all the answers to what needs to be done. But maybe it’s just bringing awareness to gun violence. And I’m not trying to make a political statement on what side of the fence we should be on. But we should all be on the same side of safety for our young people. That should definitely be something we concentrate on.
“Our football team, a bunch of young men, wanted to make some type of statement. They got together, asked ‘what can you do in tough times like this?’ You can try to make people’s lives a little bit better. For people that are hunters, orange is supposedly a color that says safety. So, we could talk an awful lot about it. Our country, we found a way to live with COVID. There’s a lot of smart people here. Seemed like we should be able to find a way to deal with gun violence, also.”
Texans players and staff wore orange on during the eighth annual National Gun Violence Awareness Day and encouraged people to donate through the First State Bank of Uvalde with checks payable to the Robb School Memorial Fund.
“Texans care about Texans, especially in times of triumph and tragedy,” Cal McNair said. “I’m so proud of our players for championing this effort and was inspired to support our neighbors in Uvalde alongside them. I also know we have a great responsibility to lend our voices to important and meaningful conversations that bring awareness to senseless gun violence.”
“No words can help the parents,” Kirksey said. “I know we’re giving money and our support, but, at the end of the day, they’re still hurting. Their life is changed forever. They don’t have their children anymore. I’m a parent myself. I couldn’t imagine having to go through that hurt.
“There’s a responsibility that comes with having guns. We’ve got to find a way to get guns in responsible people’s hands and not let guns get in the hands of the wrong people. Guns are meant to be for protection. People are out there using them wrong. So, however it is to find a way to limit that, we need to find that.”
Ramirez attended Robb Elementary School.
“We’re not just football players,” Kirksey said. “We’re role models, and we take our responsibility to make sure we extend a helping hand. It’s important to us. We have a fellow staff member, Roland, who’s close to a bunch of people there. It’s his hometown. It’s such a tragic thing. We just want to do our part and be leaders in this community.
“I was devastated by hearing that it’s children. I’m a parent myself, and I can’t imagine taking my child to school, where they’re supposed to be safe. That’s the safest place that they can be, and you get a phone call from a principal or a police officer saying that there’s a shooting in the school. My heart just goes out to those families, to those parents.”
The NFL, through its charitable foundation, and the Dallas Cowboys donated $800,000 to assist the victims and survivors in the Uvalde community.
“There’s a lot of people hurting there,” Texans running back Rex Burkhead said. “We have one staff member, Roland Ramirez, who this is really close to home for him. He went to that elementary school, he’s from that town and knows some of the people affected by the tragedy. So, we’re just doing this and showing our support and doing whatever we can to help those families there.
“A bunch of guys had been talking in the locker room and wanted to reach out. That’s what’s great about this organization, is there’s so many caring people, people wanting to do good and what’s best for this world. We know the funds and donations are going to go where they should be and used in the correct way.”
On social media Wednesday night, Ramirez thanked the McNair family and the entire organization.
“Thank you McNair Family and Thank you @HoustonTexans for your incredible support!” Ramirez wrote. “Words cannot express my gratitude and appreciation for supporting my hometown and the families affected.”
For the players to initiate the effort and get involved and give back was meaningful to Smith.
It gives Smith hope for the future.
“Well, it said exactly what we know on the inside,” Smith said. “We have real quality men that pay attention. I want our team to be involved in what’s happening in our world, in our country. That’s the way they show it. You know, seemed like some of us older people can’t get some things done but seemed like the young generation, you know, they can.
“They are about action, and our team did that. Guys, a lot of our players, they are parents. So, it means something to us. But that’s what we expected and for them to follow through that way says a lot.”
For Texans veteran defensive end Jerry Hughes, who was born in nearby Sugar Land and attended high school at Fort Bend Austin, the shooting in Uvalde felt jarringly familiar after the shooting in Buffalo where he played for the Bills before joining his hometown team this offseason.
“It’s tragic that we still have to deal with gun issues,” Hughes said. “We still have to deal with people being reckless and not really thinking and being compassionate with others. I think for us as Americans, we just got to really force our lawmakers to kind of come up with a decision where it comes back to what they signed up for, what their job detail is, to serve and protect us. I believe that’s why they got voted into office. That’s why they’re there doing their job. We just have to hold them accountable more.”
“I feel like if they can come together and put their differences aside and just focus on the kids, kids who are losing their lives at playgrounds, losing their lives at schools due to guns. It shouldn’t be that way. I think we should all be able to let our kids go outside and have fun and not worry about things like that. Going to school, I don’t think you should have to shop around for a bulletproof backpack. I think this that’s just ridiculous.”
Aaron Wilson is a Pro Football Network reporter and a contributor to KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
