According to the official team site, the following twenty-one (21) players were waived this afternoon:

Jon Abbate
Shane Boyd
Alex Brink
Kevis Coley
Rosevelt Colvin
Glenn Earl
Greg Eslinger
Jamar Fletcher
Darnell Jenkins
Ryan Krause
Gabe Long
Anthony Maddox
LeRon McCoy
Ben Moffitt
Jesse Nading
Derrick Roberson
Marcel Shipp
Mark Simmons
Torrin Tucker
Darius Walker
Dexter Wynn

One more player (Chris Brown? Petey Faggins?) must still be released to get down to the 53-man maximum. I'll have much more on this on this later, but a few quick thoughts:

1. That Rosevelt Colvin Experiment didn't take long, did it?

2. Sorry to see Darius Walker go; I hope he makes it through waivers, as I'd love to see him on the Houston practice squad.

3. Glenn Earl entered the 2007 season as a starter. Then he got injured in the first preseason game, and now he's unemployed. Things sure can turn on a dime in the NFL.

4. If I was the GM of a team that carried three (3) QBs, I'd be awfully intrigued by Shane Boyd and/or Alex Brink. Hopefully at least one of them makes it through waivers and can be stashed on the practice squad.

5. Maybe I'm alone here, but I'm sad to see Anthony Maddox go. He didn't look good at all until last night, but I'll always look back on that furniture-moving SOB with fondness.

6. How in the world did both Chris Brown and Petey Faggins survive this cut? One of them has to be gonzo tommorrow, right? Right?

7. How did Kubes keep Petey over Fletcher? Or Brown over Walker? What's going on here?

In a move that should surprise absolutely no one except his dealer, your Houston Texans advised Jameel Cook that his services were no longer needed. In a related story, I'm setting the over/under of numbers of bags of Doritos sorrowfully consumed in the Cook household today at 8. Narcotics issues aside, this move was coming regardless. Cook was passed on the depth chart by Vonta Leach, and he'd been relegated to a special teams gunner. There are plenty of younger, cheaper, and better options for that roster spot.

The Texans also brought Jon Abbate back, though I think Chris Taylor's ability to back up the starters at both FB and RB likely means Abbate is bound for the practice squad.

After taking up residence for the past two years in the Texans' training room, Scout.com is reporting that the Texans have waived LT Charles Spencer. 

For the Texans, it marks the end of a tragic chapter that saw the promise of a young man's career all but ended with one fateful play.  "Big Nasty," as he was appropriately dubbed, will go through waivers, where he'll see if there is a team willing to give him a chance to prove he can make it back.

According to most accounts of his rehabilitation process, Charles tried to keep the outlook positive and was working very hard to rejoin his teammates on the football field.  Here's hoping Charles Spencer continues to keep a postive attitude as he enters the next chapter in his pro football career.

In other team news: FB Jon Abbate, DT Eric Powell, and Dan Stevenson were also released. 

These four (4) roster moves were made in an effort to make room for the three (3) rookies that signed yesterday and the rookie that is expected to sign in the coming days.  The Texans' roster currently shows the maximum of 80 players the team is allowed to take into camp, including unsigned first round draft pick LT Duane Brown. Not counting an unsigned Brown, the roster count currently stands at 79. 

[UPDATE]: As first noted by 1Tex in the Comments below, Big Nasty has signed with Carolina. Best of luck to him as he keeps battling to get back on the field.

Some interesting things are intersecting in the Texans blogosphere...Matt over at DGDB&D has an interesting piece. It's specifically about an argument he's engaged in, but more generally, it's about how the Texans are viewed nationally.

At the same time, Sportsgamer.com just came out with the Madden 09 ratings shown in their graphic to the right.  You can definitely get a sense how the guys at EA Sports feel about the Texans. I bring this up because the Texans are about to enter a watershed season.

Anyone that knows football knows the Texans took a giant leap forward last season. Lots of 2nd and 3rd string players, as well as new starters, established themselves. Guys like Kevin Walter and Fred Bennett put themselves on the map. All but the most hardened man-crushes have let go of the Mario-bashing and decided that Young and Bush are more hype than substance. So with all that, the Texans are poised to make their mark in the national spotlight.

If you read this blog, you're probably a Texans homer.  You know that Mike Brisiel is going to steamroll Albert Haynesworth this year, and that Zac Diles is going to put Goldberg's spear on Maurice Jones-Drew.  So obviously our view of Texans players is probably a little skewed.

That being said, it'll be up to you to set the world right and lead the Texans to conquer the national stage.  Check out the ratings below and see what I mean.

 

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For those of you all who are avid Battle Red Blog readers, you may have seen me mention my affiliation with the military. For those of you who haven’t, I’ve been a member of the United States Air Force for the past ten years. So when I read Nick Scurfield’s article about Gary Kubiak’s involvement in the Impact A Hero 5K Run, I felt it was something worth mentioning.

Impact A Hero is an outstanding organization that provides emotional and financial support for our troops who have been severely wounded or disabled. This Saturday, May 31, they will be holding their annual Impact A Hero 5K Run/Walk/Wheel event at Mercer Stadium in Sugar Land, Texas. Participation is open to the public. The entry fee for the 5K run can be paid on the day of the event or early by signing up online at their website. The event coordinators are hoping to double last year’s total of 750 participants.

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