Aaron Rodger's guest-hosting stint on Jeopardy reminds me of what certain Texans have done on national TV over the years.
Everyone will point to J.J. Watt, who has hosted Saturday Night Live, made guest appearances on New Girl, The League and has even co-hosted Ultimate Tag with his brothers.
Arian Foster had a memorable visit on Hawaii 5-0 that was shot when he was at the Pro Bowl following the 2012 campaign.
You can also add David Carr in the mix. His career here didn't go according to plan, but he's made a nice post-playing gig for himself as an analyst on the NFL Network.
Dan Orlovksy and Matt Leinart were each here for only a season, but they're certainly worth mentioning. Leinart played in the NFL for six years, but when you Google search him, his IMDB page comes up way before his football stats. IMDB describes him as a writer and an actor without mentioning football. He's done plenty of analysis work on Fox College Football broadcasts. Orlovsky is an analyst for ESPN.
As far as appearing on a variety of national TV broadcasts and being a long time Texan, Watt has only one rival, or is it two? Chester Pitts and Ephraim Salaam.
Pitts and Salaam won a Super Bowl ad contest that put them in the big game broadcast following the 2007 season. The spot focused on Salaam 'discovering' Chester at a grocery store in San Diego while they were at San Diego State. They had great on-screen chemistry and subsequently appeared on Ellen many times. They even did a stint together on the Amazing Race.
Salaam was with the team for three seasons, but Chester is an original Texan who played eight years in Houston.
This piece focuses on national TV only. Plenty of former Texans have worked on local and regional television. If I missed anyone on the national scene, hit me up @TexansVoice on Twitter.
The Houston Texans roster in photos. (Updated 4/8/2021)
TE, Jordan Akins, #88
DL, Auzoyah Alufohai, #98
DB, Cornell Armstrong, #30
OL, Beau Benzschawel, #62
DL, Ross Blacklock, #90
OL, Justin Britt
DB, Terrence Brooks
TE, Pharaoh Brown, #85
OL, Cohl Cabral, #72
OL, Marcus Cannon
WR, Randall Cobb, #18
DL, Maliek Collins
WR, Chris Conley
WR, Brandin Cooks, #13
WR, Isaiah Coulter, #82
WR, Keke Coutee, #16
DB, Keion Crossen, #35
LB, Zach Cunningham, #41
LB, Tae Davis
DL, Brandon Dunn, #92
LB, Duke Ejiofor, #53
WR, Alex Erickson
K, Ka'imi Fairbairn, #7
QB, Ryan Finley
OL, Hjalte Froholdt, #77
LB, Jonathan Greenard, #52
LB, Kamu Grugier-Hill
LB, Nate Hall, #48
DB, Vernon Hargreaves III, #26
OL, Charlie Heck, #67
RB, Dontrell Hilliard, #27
OL, Tytus Howard, #71
RB, Buddy Howell, #38
RB, Mark Ingram
TE, Ryan Izzo
LB, Jordan Jenkins
RB, David Johnson, #31
DL, Jaleel Johnson
DB, Lonnie Johnson Jr., #32
P, Cameron Johnston
DB, Desmond King
LB, Christian Kirksey
DL, Shaq Lawson
RB, Phillip Lindsay
LB, Jacob Martin, #54
OL, Justin McCray
LB, Whitney Mercilus, #59
WR, Steven Mitchell Jr., #11
DB, Terrance Mitchell
WR, Donte Moncrief
DB, A.J. Moore Jr., #33
WR, Chris Moore
DB, Eric Murray, #23
LB, Hardy Nickerson
DL, Charles Omenihu, #94
DB, Jonathan Owens, #36
LB, Kevin Pierre-Louis
RB, Scottie Phillips, #40
TE, Paul Quessenberry
DB, John Reid, #34
DB, Justin Reid, #20
DL, Derek Rivers
WR, Andre Roberts
DB, Bradley Roby, #21
OL, Max Scharping, #74
DB, Tremon Smith
OL, Jordan Steckler
QB, Tyrod Taylor
DL, Vincent Taylor
LB, Joe Thomas
DB, Tavierre Thomas
OL, Cole Toner
OL, Laremy Tunsil, #78
TE, Kahale Warring, #81
QB, Deshaun Watson, #4
LS, Jon Weeks #46
