Over the years, we've talked plenty about the message discipline from your Houston Texans. If it seems like everything the team says --- from Uncle Bob McNair to Rick Smith to (FIRE!) Gary Kubiak to even low-level team-involved employees --- has a specific message and code, that's because it does. Whenever you hear Pancakes spout rubbish about how the Texans are definitely going to draft Ryan Mathews or sign Leigh Bodden or whatever, give Pancakes all the credibility he deserves: none.
After the jump, let's use a simple example as to why our messaging is such a wise strategy.
Via nj.com (h/t rotoworld.com):
Put simply: Victor Cruz was almost waived when the Giants trimmed their roster to 53 players in September 2010. Put even more bluntly: For a few minutes, he was waived with the hope he’d go unclaimed and land on the Giants’ practice squad. But a few of the decision-makers that day reversed a decision that could’ve had a huge impact on this Super Bowl season following the loss of wide receiver Steve Smith.
"He wouldn’t have made it to the practice squad," Mara said, indicating a team would’ve claimed Cruz. "I mean, was it a matter of him maybe playing in a Jet uniform?" Or in any uniform, for that matter. "No," Mara interjected to emphasize his point. "I said in a Jet uniform."
Wow, that's interesting. Giants GM Jerry Reese was worried the Jets would claim Cruz? That seems kinda paranoid, does it not? I understand the two teams are rivals and all, but were the Giants truly worried the Jets would snatch up their scraps?
The Giants would’ve preferred to stash Cruz on the practice squad while he made the adjustment from UMass to the NFL. But his three-touchdown performance against the Jets in the preseason opener, the film that came with it and a quote from Rex Ryan all combined to save his Giants career. "I hope they cut him," Ryan said after Cruz torched his backup defensive backs. "I know one team that would be ready to sign him, and that’d be us."
Ah, I guess that pretty much explains Reese's paranoia.
So let's get this straight, shall we? Foot fetishist extraordinaire Rex Ryan expressed forbidden love for Victor Cruz, which meant the Giants didn't cut Cruz, ultimately (possibly) causing Ryan to lose Cruz. Do you think this mistake is made by the Texans' front office?
No, I don't think so, either. The Houston Texans lead the league in message discipline, and the example above is precisely why. When Kubiak, Smith and the gang make comments, they are thought out and always on message, nothing else.
Whenever a Pancakes babbles endlessly about his inside information and how he's tight with the front office and blah blah blah, recognize Pancakes is being fed a company line, not the truth. The Texans' FO has become especially adept at using Pancakes as their marionette, making him dance at will.
Remember all this as we near the draft and free agency. The Texans won't talk about in whom they're interested, but they will drop the occasional nugget about players. If a player is mentioned? Ignore him. It's purely a smoke screen. Finally, just because we don't hear names tied directly to the Texans during free agency, once again, don't fret. Last year, there was massive doom and gloom around here after the first dad-gum day because we hadn't signed every free agent available. I'd say our free agency turned out pretty nicely, wouldn't you?
And doesn't it all make sense? After all, when you're playing poker, do you show your cards to the table? The Texans do not want us to know their evil plan for world NFL domination. That discipline is a strong positive for the team, even if we don't know what they're thinking.