Houston Texans’ players received an early Christmas gift on Friday, when they found new letterman jackets in their lockers.
It was nose tackle Shaun Cody’s idea to bring a little nostalgia to the team by adding letterman jackets to the players wardrobe. Outside linebacker Connor Barwin, Cody’s best friend on the team, loved the idea and ran with. Texans director of equipment services Jay Burnetti put a rush on the order so the team could have their jackets right away.
“The jackets turned out awesome,” Barwin said Friday as he showcased his new jacket in front of reporters. “We’ve got a great group of guys. Anything that represents the camaraderie of this team, guys are excited about, and that’s exactly what the jacket does.”
The 11-1 Texans travel to New England to take on the Patriots Monday night, and Barwin hopes the team will don the new jackets on the plane and bus over to Foxboro.
“We have a dress code,” Barwin said. “The idea is to wear them on the trip to New England — everybody’s going to wear them on the plane, on the trip to New England, on the bus. (I’m) pushing for khaki pants, white shirt, blue tie, jacket, so it looks like we’re about to get on a yellow bus with shoulder pads in our hands.”
According the Texans’ website, this is a tradition that looks be around for a while:
The jackets are predominantly Deep Steel Blue with the Texans’ logo over the left breast. On the right sleeve just above the elbow is each player’s number stacked on top of his position group — LB, DL, DB, WR, etc. — in white lettering with red outline. Barwin said the jackets will soon have patches on the left arm to commemorate the Texans’ 2011 AFC South title for players who were on the team last season. Captains also will get patches on the left sleeve.
The Texans will add more patches for any future division titles and conference and Super Bowl championships. The idea is to “kind of build a tradition the longer you’re here, the more patches you get on your jacket,” Barwin said.
As far as the fans go, Barwin is aware they’ll want make some of there own.
The fans can go create their own jacket, but this is obviously something that you only get if you’re on the team,” Barwin said. “You can’t go buy this jacket at Academy Sports. We want it to be just for us guys, but obviously, we can’t stop people from making their own.”
The addition of letterman jackets will bring a close nit team even closer together, while adding a spark of fun to locker room.
“I used to say before the season it feels like we’re on a college team,” Barwin said. “Everybody gets along. We have so much fun. And this jacket, you feel like you’re on a high school team where it’s all about winning, it’s all about being around a group of guys. This jacket is just another symbol of that.”
