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Houston Texans Remember Their High School Days
Houston, TX
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After 20 years of covering high school sports throughout the great state of Texas, I often reflect back on the coaches and student athletes I have crossed paths with along the way. Trips from the Rio Grande Valley to deep East Texas, I have found that these communities shared one common thread.
High school football and high school sports are a big deal.
The term Friday Night Lights was coined from the 1990 book written by H.G. Bissinger. The book spotlighted the 1988 Odessa Permian football team as they made a run to the state championship. Football in the Permian Basin is big business. It’s intense and if you don’t win and win big, football coaches are quickly shown the door.
Houston Texans offensive lineman Eric Winston knows all about the demands and rewards that come with playing in West Texas. Winston was a star at Midland Lee High School where he was a part of the Rebels’ three-peat as state champions from 1998-2000.
“Funny thing is, I still talk to Coach Parchman (John Parchman now at Cisco JC) once a month or so,” he said. “There were so many things I learned from him and that experience alone. It was one of those things you grow up hoping it will happen to you and it ends up happening.”
That experience locked in a work ethic Winston has never forgotten.
“I think it is more an expectation level,” Winston said of the carryover to the college ranks.
“You realize if we can do a rep 30 times then why not do it 35 times. You learn that you have to strive for perfection,” he said. “I still haven’t had the perfect game, but that’s what I’m looking to do.
“It is a cliché, but it shows how far hard work gets you and being a team can really go,” Winston told me at Texans training camp in August.
Winston played both ways at Midland Lee, starring as both a tight end and defensive end before moving on to play his college football for Miami (Fla.), where he made the transition to the offensive line. He will enter his third NFL season with the Texans in September.
While the 6-7, 310-pound lineman now enjoys the rewards an NFL life delivers, he will never forget his high school experience.
“You grow up and have a beat writer as part of your high school team,” he said. “You’re on the front page on Saturday and previews during the week. You grow up thinking everybody is this lucky, but they are not.”
Winston also disagrees with criticisms that too much emphasis is put on today’s high school athlete.
“A lot of people look down and say kids have too much pressure, but that’s what we were about,” he said. “The community rallied around high school players and I wouldn’t want to grow up anywhere else.”
Fellow Texans teammate and NFL rookie Frank Okam is a product of Texas high school football as well. Okam excelled both on the field and in the classroom at Lake Highlands in the Dallas area before playing for the Texas Longhorns.
“There is nothing like the Friday night lights,” said Okam after a training camp workout in August.
“My mom cooked a good dinner, your teammates, dance teams, everything is great,” Okam said. ”During my first three years of college football at Texas I still went back to watch Lake Highlands play. It was fun.
“Guys in high school were my best friends and we all shared the passion of football together,” he said. “I still believe there is nothing like it here in Texas.”
Winston and Okam are just two guys I have had the chance to cover who began the journey in high school and continue the ride in the NFL. There are plenty more that can share the same experience.
It’s good to see young men who will never forget their roots in the great game of football.
It’s kickoff time. Are you ready? I am.•
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