Texans’ QB Brock Osweiler Skipping Denver Broncos’ White House Trip
Houston Texans’ quarterback Brock Osweiler made headlines this week for skipping his former team’s Monday visit with President Obama at the White House.
Just not for political reasons.
Osweiler, who signed with the Texans as a free agent this off-season after seeing his Denver Broncos win the SuperBowl, said that he believes it is far more important to get acclimated with his new team.
Former Broncos and current Texans QB Brock Osweiler will not attend Monday’s trip to White House, per sources; Houston has an OTA on Monday.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 1, 2016
“It is important to be at practice with my new teammates,” Osweiler told ESPN in regard to his decision to skip a visit to the White House. “[The Texans run] a new offensive system for me and every practice and rep is extremely important.”
Nevertheless, Osweiler — who threw for 1,967 yards and 10 touchdowns in the eight games in which he replaced Peyton Manning as the Broncos’ starter — said that he was very honored to be invited to be a part of his former team’s White House trip.
Just not as appreciative as the QB was to the Houston Texans for his four year, $72 million ($37 million guaranteed) contract.
Despite the outward appearance that he has turned his back on his former team, and country, Osweiler was quick to defend skipping an opportunity to visit the White House by talking at length about the new commitment that he has made to the Houston Texans. It is his new team, Osweiler believes, that has extended a great degree of faith in him this off-season by recruiting him as their franchise QB.
And Osweiler’s new commitment to the Texans, ESPN noted, came well before his decision to skip the White House trip. In fact, this decision came long before he even made his way down to Houston to practice with the team first hand.
Per the news outlet, Osweiler had contacted his new teammates, arranged for his new wide receivers and backup quarterback Tom Savage to visit Arizona to work out together, and studied the team’s playbook signals long before he considered Houston home.
“The irony is Osweiler’s statement is that at this time last year, the Texans didn’t know who their quarterback was going to be,” noted ESPN’s Tania Ganguli. “Neither [Brian Hoyer nor Ryan Mallett] could completely command the room because they didn’t know whose room it would be.”
“We can’t know if naming [Hoyer or Mallett] the starter would have drastically changed the Texans’ quarterback theatrics last season,” she continued. “It’s likely there would have still been problems.”
Still, Osweiler’s skipping of his earned White House trip with the Broncos is a telling sign of the investment that the QB has made in his new team, which, coincidentally, went 9-7 and won the A.F.C. South last season without him.
NFL White House appearances are, after all, not mandatory.
“Every rep, every look, every conversation about a route, a protection, a play, a concept is extremely important,” reiterated Osweiler, noting that “the clock” on his tenure as a starter with The Texans is already “ticking.”
Unfortunately for Osweiler, the real ticking clock could be his opportunity for a future visit to the White House with the Texans.
This clock, most football fans agree, might have already run its course before it even started.
[Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images]
