The Houston Texans made it clear what they thought of former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud when they drafted him with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft.
But Stroud has almost exceeded all expectations of a rookie quarterback, even one drafted that high.
Speaking to DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN in a glowing profile about how Stroud won over the Texans locker room, the quarterback revealed sage advice he received from future NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady.
“On TV, you look at [star quarterbacks] and think, ‘Man, they’re just so busy. They can’t hang out with their teammates. They’re probably just locked in on what they got going,'” Stroud told ESPN. “And [Brady] was like, ‘I just never want to let my teammates down.’ He said those words exactly. I was like, ‘Man, that’s how I am.’
“I love kicking it with my boys. Those are my brothers. So it definitely hit home when he was talking about it.”
Stroud recently made headlines by hosting teammates for Taco Tuesday dinners at his house, catered by his private chef. ESPN noted that it’s a big reason why the Texans are only one game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for control of the AFC SOuth.
“They want to protect better, you want to play better on defense, you want to play better on special teams,” Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans said of Stroud’s leadership. “You want to do everything you can do to do your job better.”
[ESPN]
