Ten years ago we launched Texans Radio. Of course Texans games have always been on the air on SportsRadio 610, as Andre Ware and I have called every season. I'm talking about the extracurricular stuff – the shows.
We weren't the first team in the league to have club-hosted radio shows, originating from the building, but we quickly became the team with the most air time, access and experienced hosts.
For the first ten years of Texans history, I worked at SportsRadio 610, hosting shows with the likes of Rich Lord, then Andre Ware and finally with John Lopez.
In 2012, the Texans took radio in-house. I came over, full-time, to the organization and we started doing Texans-only shows that aired on SportsRadio 610. Texans All Access was born, starting on Tuesdays from noon to 2 and eventually moving Monday through Friday from 6-7 in the off season and 6-8 during the season (we'll have a quiz on this later).
In the first season of Texans Radio, Seth Payne and Ted Johnson did a Wednesday night show that I dubbed "Seth and Ted's Excellent Adventure." This was before either former player was a full timer on SportsRadio 610.
Drew Dougherty and Deepi Sidhu have always been a part of the team radio programming. And things really revved up in 2014 when John Harris joined the fray. I remember during that draft I suggested John take a shift off from our 16 hours of coverage so he wouldn't burn out. He ended up on the air anyway. You can't keep him out of the game.
People have always asked me if we can be critical or if we're muzzled. We have NEVER been told what we can and cannot say. I've always said that, yes, we're with the team, but we have to be factual and give reasons why things work or don't work. I've worked with various teams for 30 years now. There's a way to analyze without being insulting or denigrating.
Being in the building gives us a unique perspective. We see players and coaches in the hall, the cafeteria. We have them on the air all the time. We see them drag their bodies in for treatment on Mondays. We once saw Johnny Manziel and Jadeveon Clowney having lunch in the cafeteria and talked about it that day. It's the little things. We want to take people inside the walls and have some fun talking football.
Here we are on the 10th anniversary of doing shows this way. Season 11 is underway and off to a good start with Lovie Smith having already been on the air this week. We'll be the only Houston show at the Scouting Combine in a couple of weeks and the NFL Meetings ('Owners' Meetings) later in March.
There's never a dull moment in the NFL and on Texans Radio we are grateful to have the opportunity to have the listeners along for the ride.
Texans All Access can be heard Monday through Friday 6-7pm on Sports Radio 610, the Audacy App and the Texans App.
