SITE NEWS: BRB Adds New Contributor From Osweilerandia

Ed. Note: We told you we were looking for new voices to add to the screamin' room here at BRB, and we'll be unveiling them one by one over the next few weeks.  Consider this Part V in the series.

Hi BRB!

I am sitting in Boulder, Colorado, counting Sundays until football season starts again in Houston. I've been relegated to this icy tundra of Broncos fandom for journalism school, and it has been no small task to survive the lack of decent food and real football. Seriously, Colorado does not have tacos. It is tremendously upsetting.

I've been a reader here at BRB for years, though I tend to lurk instead of comment. Maybe you've stumbled across one of my mock drafts where I rant about Houston winning the next 25 Super Bowls (that opinion won't change anytime soon). There aren't many Texans fans in Colorado, and I hope that this outlet for my excessive fandom will allow me to get to know you all better.

I was born in Houston what seems like a very long time ago, when the Oilers still lit up the TV every fall and winter Sunday. I went to my first game game at the Astrodome when I was one year old (they lost and I cried, as my parents tell it). I can attribute my football fandom to watching Warren Moon throw touchdowns in real life.

I moved to Austin when I was still young and got really into the Longhorns, as everyone does. But in Austin, NFL team loyalty is a strange circumstance. It's about three hours either way to Houston or Dallas, so really, most natives just pick a side. Being from Houston originally, I couldn't root for the Cowboys (that wasn't allowed in my house, nor was I interested). So when the Texans were announced, and went on to beat the Cowboys in their first game at Reliant, they won me over forever.

My parents raised me around sports but have their own team loyalties. My father is a Patriots fan, and sometimes I have to bite the bullet and purchase him assorted Pats-related gifts for Christmas. My mother loves the Niners, but J.J. and company are slowly converting her. She will sometimes text me about a DeAndre Hopkins touchdown or a "fitzfumble," as she dubbed them, and I know that I am doing my job. I also have a pup, Annie, who loyally wears her #10 jersey on Sundays (and is generally my whole world).

Over time, I have found two things that allow me to invest emotionally in my team more than anything else. The first is fantasy football. I always bet on Texans players (Hop, I'm lookin' at you), and it makes the losses and bad games just slightly more painful. It also makes the victories a little sweeter.

The other is journalism. Writing about the Texans allows me to get involved in a way that I couldn't otherwise. I am so excited for this season, and the opportunity to be a part of it with all of you!