Jamey Rootes resigns from Houston Texans
It was a disappointing season to say the least for the Houston Texans, who entered the campaign with high expectations after making a playoff run last year. But before week five of the season was even played, the team had fired head coach and general manager Bill O’Brien following a 0-4 start to the season. Even after replacing O’Brien though, the team only picked up four wins and finished the campaign with an abysmal 4-12 record.
The team officially replaced O’Brien with general manager Nick Caserio and head coach David Culley. The club also fired director of football administration Kevin Krajcovic, equipment manager Mike Parson and vice president of football operations Doug West just last week.
On Wednesday, the Texans revealed there would be even more changes. Jamey Rootes announced that he has decided to step down from his position as president of the team. Rootes has spent more than 20 years with the Texans organization and his loss is a significant one to the team.
“The past two decades have been an amazing blessing for me and my family and I have the [McNair family] to thank for that,” Rootes said in a statement, via ESPN. “It has been an honor to serve them in this capacity for as long as I have.”
Houston began playing in the National Football League in 2002 and have had Rootes part of the organization from the beginning, after he served as president and general manager of Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew.
“We sincerely appreciate Jamey’s multiple contributions to the Texans franchise over his tenure and look forward to seeing him succeed in his new ventures,” Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair said in a statement, via ESPN. “We will now build upon this foundation and move forward with a bold and unwavering commitment to winning championships, creating memorable experiences for our fans, and doing great things for Houston.”
The team’s most pressing matter is to resolve the issue with star quarterback Deshaun Watson, who has requested a trade. The Texans selected Watson with the 12th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and are still hoping he can be the future of the team after showing so much potential. He is still just 25 years old and led the club to the postseason in 2018 and 2019.
It remains to be seen whether the Texans will be able to turn things around under new management, but it was clear change was needed. Houston would have had the third overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft to help in the club’s rebuilding effort, but they already traded the pick away in September 2019 to the Miami Dolphins.
In a deal that has turned out to be terrible for Houston, the Texans exchanged a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 first-round pick, a 2021 second-round pick, cornerback Johnson Bademosi and tackle Julien Davenport, for tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Kenny Stills, a 2020 fourth-round pick and a 2021 sixth-round pick.
The 2021 NFL campaign is expected to kick off in September.
