HOUSTON – One of the most aggressive, hard-hitting players on the Texans’ roster last season, linebacker Neville Hewitt is a special-teams ace.
He tied for first in the NFL with 13 special teams tackles last season as the Texans won the Rick Gosselin award for the top-ranked special teams units for the second consecutive year.
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Hewitt is back with the Texans as he’s being re-signed to a one-year contract, per a league source.
In a pivotal regular-season finale against the Indianapolis Colts, Hewitt dashed downfield and delivered a punishing tackle in punt coverage.
“Kind of a tone setter,” Texans special teams coordinator Frank Ross said at the time. “I think three special teamers ran the fastest in that game. Our two gunners ran 20.7 and 20.8 mph I believe and then Neville Hewitt ran 20.1. That dude was humming and you ever seen Neville Hewitt?
“You don’t want to get in front of him if he’s running 20 miles per hour, so he is a juggernaut when he get’s going. Man nobody sells out harder, so proud of where he’s at and we need him to do that this Saturday.”
Hewitt, 30, played in 14 games for the Texans in 2022 and had 11 tackles, one for a loss.
Hewitt started a 2021 game in place of Christian Kirksey, who was placed on injured reserve after undergoing thumb surgery, and recorded a team-high 10 tackles, nine on defense and one on special teams, during a 17-9 road loss to the Miami Dolphins.
Signed to a one-year, $1.7 million contract last offseason that includes $700,000 guaranteed, a $200,000 signing bonus, a $1 million base salary with $500,000 guaranteed for skill injury and salary cap and up to $500,000 total in per-game active roster bonuses with $29,411 per game active, according to NFL Players Association records, Hewitt started every game in 2020 for the New York Jets and recorded a career-high 134 tackles along with two sacks, four passes defensed and one interception.
Forging a 10-year NFL career, Hewitt has a history of overcoming adversity. Growing up in Silver Spring, Maryland, Hewitt dealt with his mother being incarcerated on a drug trafficking charge. He attended Georgia Military College before transferring to Marshall where he was named the Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year and recorded 208 tackles, 16 1/2 for losses 7 1/2 sacks and two interceptions in two seasons.
After being cleared medically with the Dolphins and playing for them for three seasons, he worked his way up to become a starter with the Jets.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
