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Should Charley Casserly be the first inductee in the Texans Ring of Honor?
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Casserly (NFL photo)
Imagine the horror.
I read this article almost an hour ago and I'm just now recovering from the Heimlich that my wife had to put on me.
Thanks dear. And I'm sorry to put you through all that considering you just had major surgery. But you proved how Texans fans stick together when the going gets tough.
Here's what "accomplished film and television writer" Kevin Hench said that damn near killed me:
Should the Texans start their own Ring of Honor, beginning with first inductee Charlie Casserly, the deposed GM with the stones to believe that Mario Williams would be a better pro than Reggie Bush or Vince Young?
Excuse me for a minute because I'm getting nauseated reading it again.
Let's get to the point.
Yes, Charley Casserly was the Texans GM on draft day 2006, but he was a dead GM walking at the time, and there was no way in Hades that he or his "stones" had the final say on any of the Texans '06 draft picks.
Input, yes. Final say? Not only no, but heyal no.
What people tend to forget - and what causes outsiders to go revisionist or ignorant on this - is that Texans owner Bob McNair hired Dan Reeves as a consultant late in the 2005 season without discussing it with Casserly.
In her May 10, 2006 article "Texans GM mystery ends today / Casserly expected to resign during talks with McNair," Megan Manful, then of the Houston Chronicle, wrote:
"Casserly's future has been in question since McNair hired Dan Reeves as a consultant Dec. 12 (2005) without discussing it with Casserly. Reeves is no longer with the team, but as soon as he was hired speculation swirled that Casserly would resign after the draft."
I recall the day that Reeves was hired when McNair, uncharacteristically showing his frustrations during an interview on SportsRadio610, talked about how he might have trusted his "football guys" too much during his first four years as an owner.
During that interview I recall McNair talking about growing tired over hearing "that's not the way we do it in the NFL," which to me was about the clearest indication (besides the Reeves hiring) that McNair had enough of CC.
McNair was clear to say that he didn't bring in Reeves to review Casserly or Capers' performance, but he was brought in to review film, assess personnel, and assist in the search for a new head coach. In other words, help him do the things a GM usually does.
McNair was taking another baby step in learning how to be an owner as his team limped to 2-14.
As you would expect, Charley was visibly annoyed during the press conference when McNair introduced Reeves. McNair said he could trust Reeves, but it was obvious at that point that he had lost trust in Casserly.
In his December 16, 2005 article "Reeves gets firsthand look at Texans on field / Practice session, film review begins evaluation process," John McClain of the Houston Chronicle captured the following comment from McNair after he and Reeves watched practice together:
"I hired Dan because I'm comfortable with him ... I can trust Dan to tell me the truth as objectively as possible."
So McNair is going to throw the keys to the upcoming draft to a GM that he doesn't completely trust and has one foot out the door? Um ... no.
Did Charley have input in the 2006 draft? Sure. Was he making the final call on the picks? I seriously doubt it, based on all of the above.
If I was a betting man, I'd go 'all in' on the notion that Gary Kubiak made the call on Mario Williams based on the information he had in front of him. There have been reports that it was Casserly talked Kubiak into drafting Owen Daniels. That may be true, but again, who was making the final call that day?
The bottom line on Casserly as GM of the Texans is that he had a few hits, but he had many, many more misses - not only in the draft but in free agency as well.
McNair allowed Casserly exit gracefully two weeks after the 2006 draft under the guise of pursuing a job with the NFL that he didn't get. To their credit, Casserly and Dom Capers handled this awkward situation very professionally.
Meanwhile, back to the gag-me notion that Casserly should somehow be honored when the time comes for the Texans to construct their own "Ring of Honor," I'll leave you with this.
The Texans have only three players remaining on their roster that were drafted during the 2002-05 era, aka, the height of the Casserly reign (Chester Pitts, Andre Johnson and Dunta Robinson). And that's out of 39 players drafted during that period.
I won't even go into the free agent and trade debacles that involved players such as Todd Wade, Phillip Buchanon, Tony Hollings, Jason Babin, Robaire Smith, and Gary Walker's re-up.
So what do you think Texans fans ... Ring of Honor or Ring of Horror?
I think you know where I stand.
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