In the 2024 NFL Off-season, the Houston Texans became one of the hottest topics in the NFL Media. With big splashes from Danielle Hunter to the trading for Stefon Diggs. Houston was put on notice all around the NFL. Texans built a team to dethrone the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs. While the Texans are getting notice, this is not the reason the Houston Texans have finally made the media map.
Today’s media only cares about one topic and that drama! Even in the sports market, drama has been a focal point on many media outlets and seems to be what is selling. Besides the Watson debacle, Houston has been out of the negative drama spotlight. Past losing seasons played a factor in the attention of the Texans. Unfortunately, this changed for the Texans after winning the division and making the playoffs in 2023. Sadly for some Texans players, old and new, this would bring heat to their actions during the off-season and training camp.
CJ Stroud was victim number one when it came to the media twisting context to make drama. Headlining this NFL Offseason, Stroud enjoyed trips to Asia and participated in a lot of podcasts. Media portrayed Stroud as selfish due to the fact CJ was in Asia, instead of working out with fellow teammates. Stroud also was named arrogant by many because of some of the statements that were miscued from the entire content to paint Stroud a certain way. Many clips found their way onto social media but clipped out of the full content to fit the narrative of what the media wanted to portray Stroud. Former NFL players and Stroud’s teammates stood for Stroud, such as Chad Ochocinco saying, “Let the man enjoy himself, stop with the cap.” NFL fans were on both sides, picking and choosing what they wanted to believe, either Stroud is a “diva” or just enjoying the offseason.
The manipulated narrative by the media did not end with CJ Stroud. This offseason, the Houston Texans completed a trade with the Buffalo Bills sending Stefon Diggs to Houston. Media quickly jumped on twisting the narrative once again, calling Stefon a “locker room cancer” and questioning the move by the Texans. Fast forward to the Texan’s second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, a video was posted on social media, of what looked like Diggs in a heated conversation with CJ Stroud, Tank Dell, and Nico Collins. Media quickly proclaimed the was trouble in Houston and that Stefon was not happy about not receiving any targets. Once again, completely false to the real incident. Yes, the topic of the conversation is unknown, but in the whole video which the media left out, Diggs and company are seen laughing and joking around before and after the ” heated conversation.
The flipped narratives on the Texans prove their position on the media’s map. More propaganda news will be spread by the media against the Houston Texans, while they remain as one of the top teams. 2024 will be the year for the Texans to prove their reign of supremacy. The more wins tallied by the Texans, the more false narratives will be spread. That said, the Texans have great leaders on the team to surpass the static. Head coach Demeco Ryans is a true leader of men and has a strong voice to rally the players to focus on the field. This year will be a fun season to watch! To hear more about this issue and much more about the Texans, make sure to subscribe to the Texans Fan Battle Podcast!