Texans’ Steven Sims Jr. holds football camp at Travis HS, looks to ‘add that juice, that spark’ for hometown NFL team

RICHMOND, Texas – Once a prep football standout, Texans’ wide receiver and kick returner Steven Sims Jr. was back where he scored touchdowns as a teenager.

Sims held his instructional youth football camp Saturday at his alma mater, Travis High School, on Saturday morning.

“It’s fun,” said Sims, who signed a one-year, $1.7 million contract with the Texans this offseason. “It’s kind of surreal. I used to dream of this. I used to work out on that hill always so much. Not necessarily dream about the camp, but, here at this point, you live to grow.

“’I’m excited. It’s crazy to be back here where I started at. I sweat so much on this field. I passed out on this field. I done it all, right on this field. To be giving back to the next generation, it’s a blessing.”

Sims played collegiately at Kansas and signed with the Washington franchise after going undrafted. He was joined at his camp by two fellow former Travis High School players: Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hakeem Butler and Jacksonville Jaguars rookie wide receiver Parker Washington along with Detroit Lions offensive lineman Germain Ifedi (Texas A&M, West Side) and Dallas Cowboys defensive end Dorance Armstrong (North Shore), who played with Sims in college.

He played last season for the Pittsburgh Steelers, catching 19 passes for 105 yards. He had 13 runs for 70 yards The 5-foot-9, 184-pound graduate had a touchdown return as a rookie and has 1,586 career return yards, 75 catches for 679 yards, 173 career rushing yards and seven total touchdowns.

“I definitely feel like I add that juice, that spark in the return game, screen game,” Sims said. “However they’re getting it to me, I feel like I can make a big play. I feel like that’s going to be a great dynamic added to this team.”

Sims chose the Texans after drawing free agent interest from the Seattle Seahawks and New York Giants.

Why?

“Kind of just to be home around family, I can’t beat that,” Sims said. “That succeeded everything else. It’s a great team, great coaching staff. We’re a young team. We’ve got a lot of young guys that want to make plays, that can make big plays. It’s different here in Houston.”

“This is the actual field where Steven Sims was probably on all fours saying, ‘Why am I doing this?’ and the sun is beating down, and now he’s living his dream to play in the NFL,” said Danny Arnold, owner of Plex. “And now he’s turning it around and offering it to the other kids. I love it. I’m excited for him.”

He returned 24 punts for a 5.5 average and averaged 25.5 yards per kickoff return last season for Pittsburgh.

The Texans needed help at kickoff returner after Tremon Smith signed a two-year, $5.5 million deal with the Denver Broncos.

The Texans had the top-ranked special teams unit in the NFL last season under special teams coordinator Frank Ross in the prestigious annual Rick Gosselin rankings of the kicking game.

“I love Frank Ross, that’s a guy that brings a lot of energy every day,” Sims said. “He just wants to win. He’s very competitive. Even when I’m doing my catching drills, he’s competing with me, trying to knock the ball away and just distract me.

“Frank is a great coach. I’m excited to be here with the No. 1 special teams unit. The return game looks good. I’m very excited. Definitely pretty electric.”

The Texans are coming off a 3-13-1 season and are hoping to engineer a turnaround under new coach DeMeco Ryans. Expectations aren’t very high outside of NRG Stadium.

“They’re sleeping on us,” Sims said. “We don’t have prime-time games, but that’s cool. They’re not believing in us, but we’ll get there. We’re a sleeper team. That’s all I can say.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com