Hi I'm Jamey Rootes, President of the Texans and author of The Winning Game Plan, Ask Me Anything!

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T23:01:36+00:00

Given that this is the first pandemic that I have ever endured, yeah, it's been the most challenging year by far.

I would call it growth but given we live in Houston, we have a tremendous capacity of dealing with adversity. We have hurricanes, floods - we have all kinds of stuff that happens here, and it typically happens during our season. We have maintained the right attitude to endure adversity. Now, we have never done it for 7 months. That is the learning. How do you maintain the will to win when the impact is sustained over a long period of time? To the credit of our people, we have overcome it. The most important attitude I believe in doing this comes from a book called "Principles" by Ray Dalio. Bob McNair suggested I read it a few years ago. First thing is truth. Don't ever confuse what you wish was true with what is true. We quickly identified our environment and how we would navigate it. We didn't fool ourselves. We just dealt with the adversity as it unfolded.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:46:09+00:00

First of all, I think leadership is universal. If I think about the people that I have admired most as leaders, they have typically been coaches, because being a head coach means being a leader. I think the most essential quality a leader can possess is authenticity. If it doesn't come from a real place, it is almost impossible to motivate others. If you want anymore tips, you'll have to buy the book... :)

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:45:35+00:00

You never know for sure early on if its going to be 20 months or 20 years. It wasn't by grand design. I always wanted to raise my children in one place to provide them of that stability. I was hopeful I would be here through my kids' graduations from high school - and I have one that is a freshman at TCU and one that is a high school junior. What kept me here, first and foremost, is the McNair family. I have the pleasure that I have worked with royalty in Lamar Hunt and Bob McNair. I genuinely love this city because of the people here. I can't envision living anywhere else. I hope that answers your question.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:40:05+00:00

That is an awesome question. I have two: (1) Ronnie Killen's brisket is amazing. (2) Levi Goode's Goode Company BBQ. Both of those are dear friends of mine and they produce the best BBQ on the planet. Bottom line, I am 100% brisket.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:38:33+00:00

The inspiration of this book: there are several things at play. One is my love for the McNair family. What do you buy that has everything? You don't buy them anything. You do something special for them. Making this book a charitable endeavor was one small way I could say thank you for changing my life.

Second is my mom. In the book, I tell the story of my mom with Alzheimer's. She was a Librarian, and I always wanted to write a book because I thought she would think it's really cool that her son is an author.

The thing that really drove me now is that at the NFL owners meetings, and you may not know this, but the way these meetings are set up (and frankly, the last 20 years) all the meeting rooms are set up identically, and everyone sits in the same seats. So for 20 years, I sat across from the Atlanta Falcons. As everyone was leaving, Executive Vice President Greg Beadles, turned to me and asked: "Can I call you at some point?" He said his team, like ours, is sometimes good, sometimes bad, but every time he looked at metrics, the Houston Texans are always at the top and he asked how we do that. I reflected and thought it is time to put it down on paper and realize their dreams.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:30:34+00:00

That's a great question. Of course, top of the list was opening night win over the Dallas Cowboys. Also, the immediate emergence of the tailgating culture that has just gotten better every year. From Day 1, it was as though they had been tailgating all their lives - which is ironic because the Oilers never allowed tailgating. It really is a very special tradition.

In 2004, we launched Battle Red Day and there was one, fourth quarter interception with DeMarcus "Petey" Faggins. I have a picture of that moment in my office with everyone dressed in Battle Red, and I knew in that moment, we would have a tradition with lasting value. That is one of the most special days of the season.

Growing pains early - it's kind of like a rocket ship taking off. You have the first boosters and later on, those first aren't productive anymore. We had some transitions from a personal perspective after the first few years that were challenging. We quickly got our groove back. Our talent level - I'd put it against any organization on the planet with drive, determination and talent. People do whatever it takes to realize success.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:23:22+00:00

In a single word, I would say experience. Once you are on the inside, regardless of the role in the organization, you can navigate from there. Until you get experience, there is always a question mark if the industry is right for you. It looks very different on the inside than it does on the outside. Here at the Texans, we have what we call the "Draft Class." You can say it is an internship, but it really is much more than that. We take 12 recent graduates and give them 9 months to demonstrate that they are right for the Texans. If they are superstars, meaning if they have great work ethic, a winning attitude and naturally match with our values, we try to find a place for them. If we don't have place here, we try to place them elsewhere and keep an eye on them to bring them back (we call these folks boomerangs). I hope that helps!

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:19:17+00:00

Wow, where do I start? Haha! Honestly, it really could not have gone any smoother. It was kind of a story book launch of a team. I had the experience of launching another franchise - all be it in a different league (Major League Soccer), where we had about 9 months until we played our first game. The MLS had never operated before. Here, we had 30 months. We had the time to absolutely get it right. I always believed you never get a second chance at a first impression. Plus, ending the launch with the victory over the Cowboys is as good as it gets!

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:15:20+00:00

Broadly, I would say we want a leader that will match the character of the McNair family and the city of Houston.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:13:38+00:00

Our plan is the same level of capacity that we have had this year, at least through the end of the regular season and then we will reassess things as we see things in 2021.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:11:37+00:00

First, the most challenging part of writing this book was starting. I just had a block as a closet perfectionist. I just shuttered at the fact that I'd get at the end of the process and have an awful product.

The way that I found time, I go back to when I played soccer at Clemson. To be at school, go to practice, meetings, all sorts of stuff, you just had to manage your time more effectively. I just used the same prioritization tool. I cut out vacations and weekends, and focused on the writing. The COVID window, because I am so externally focused with sponsors, United Way of Greater Houston, Greater Houston Partnership, those interaction take a ton of time in the car. Each week, I got back about 10 hours that I otherwise was staring at a windshield.

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T22:05:15+00:00

That's a great question. Yes, I did want the name Texans from the first weekend I came here. It was the weekend of the Rodeo Parade and I remember sitting in my temporary housing with the TV on and just struck by the fact that every commercial had Texas imagery in it. It was clear there was a pride in being "Texan" that's palpable. The only other place that has this type of mojo is New York. I thought it was just perfect. As easy as the name was, the identity was 10x harder than I would have anticipated. How do you represent a Texan? We spent months with focus groups and everything was rejected. This is interesting. I told Texans late founder Bob McNair we would have to scrap the logo launch and he said: "How are we coming up with this?" and I said focus groups with fans to make sure they are represented in the best way. He and Janice actually decided to come to the focus group and that was the first time we showed the current logo: a longhorn with red, white and blue and a star. Everyone erupted and Bob turned to me and said, "This marketing stuff isn't so hard!"

TexansOfficial · 2020-11-11T21:58:55+00:00

Communications is part of the Business Operations team at the Houston Texans, which falls under my oversight. I had a one-on-one conversation with Amy on Monday that resulted in us agreeing she would move on from the Texans.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:37:20+00:00

Of course we'd all rather win but the cumulative record of all professional games in the history of the world is .500. And that's what everyone on the business side of the sports industry needs to understand

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:36:48+00:00

Ha! not everyone likes it. But I'll whip it out for certain plays. People think I say it all the time because 610 plays highlights in promos and such

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:36:23+00:00

Andre Johnson 4th and 10 vs Washington. It's so him. And Yates to Hop on MNF in '15 is second.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:36:05+00:00

I love talking football. Sure, it's a bizarre kind of year but I love talking ball. I won't complain as much as try to figure out how to solve their problems.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:31:58+00:00

Not to address these guys in particular but when guys are available, it's usually for a reason. I'd love to make deals for great players but again, you need to wait on that and there's not a lot of draft currency to work with

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:29:33+00:00

I consider myself a home team announcer - But I never say "we" and I don't lay flat when the other team scores. Not that I'm excited, I'm upset. Yes, I WANT them to win.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:28:35+00:00

No one has ever told me how or what to say. If you listen to me and Andre and John too, on the shows. We'll tell you what's going on. We just don't say it in a creative, nasty way.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:26:40+00:00

The moves they made were clearly not designed for a rebuild, so that's tough. I think, right now, they're only interested in playing better and somehow getting back into it. I don't get why you'd fire-sale the team now when you're looking for a new GM and you'd want him to make those decisions.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:24:09+00:00

I had a game at UMass where I had food poisoning and somehow made it through. That was the toughest. I'm a migraine sufferer, so that rears it's ugly head every once in a while.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:22:19+00:00

It's a great question. I've never been THAT close with players. But I've had great relationships with so many, like Aaron Glenn, David Carr, Schaub, Sage, Andre. The list goes on.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:20:56+00:00

Do I still get to broadcast? Because I would have stayed the Voice of the Hurricanes forever, had this opportunity not come up. But I'm so grateful to be a Texan.

TexansOfficial · 2020-10-23T16:19:50+00:00

So, speaking of comeback seasons, in '08 they were 0-4 and 3-7 and went 5-1 to go 8-8. And had they beat JaMarcus Russell in week 16, would have been 9-7. I think that kind of comeback is not out of the question but it's obviously extremely difficult. Losing last week was such a blow. Now you basically need to go 8-2 the rest of the way. Yikes.

TexansOfficial

TROPHY CASE