The way the Texans fans treated Matt Schuab was absurd according to Houston players. (Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports)
Almost a year ago to the day, on Oct. 7, then-Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel was cheered by fans after being injured in a game against the Baltimore Ravens.
That didn’t sit well with tackle Eric Winston, who launched a diatribe on the fans after the game.
Said Winston, “When somebody gets hurt, there are long lasting ramifications to the game we play. When you cheer, when you cheer somebody getting knocked out, I don’t care who it is, and it just so happened to be Matt Cassel — it’s sickening. It’s 100 percent sickening. I’ve been in some rough times on some rough teams, I’ve never been more embarrassed in my life to play football than in that moment right there.
“Boo him all you want. Boo me all you want. Throw me under the bus. Tell me I’m doing a bad job. Say I gotta protect him more. Do whatever you want. Say whatever you want. But if you are one of those people, one of those people that were out there cheering or even smiled when he got knocked out, I just want to let you know, and I want everybody to know that I think it’s sickening and disgusting. We are not gladiators and this is not the Roman Coliseum. This is a game.”
So it was in Houston Sunday that Texans quarterback Matt Schaub suffered a lower leg injury against the Rams. And, like in Kansas City, fans cheered. Some fans threw ice at Schaub while he was being treated on the sideline. Multiple Texans players used words like “disgusting,” “tasteless,” “tactless,” “no class” to describe their reaction. Linebacker Brian Cushing said it was “barbaric.”
Cushing also said, “That is just tactless and tasteless. I was extremely heated at that. They have to go home and look at themselves in the mirror and if they were born to hurt a man, that’s fine. They can do what they do. The fans can get emotional. That is just not how I was brought up. That is not the kind of man I am. I’ve got to go home and raise a daughter, and teach her right from wrong. That is just not something you do. I don’t care how you feel about a man. You don’t kick him when he is down.”
“No class,” said wide receiver Andre Johnson. “It’s bad when members of the other team are saying that’s messed up that they would do something like that. It just shows no class. It wasn’t all of the fans, but those are the same people when you’re out somewhere with your family and you tell them they can’t have an autograph right now, they are the same people that tell you you’re rude. It’s no class. It just shows what they’re all about. You don’t cheer about anybody being injured. I don’t care who it is. Guys lay their bodies on
the line out there on that field. Some guys get injuries and it affects them their whole lives. For them to cheer about something like that, it just shows they have no class.”
Said guard Wade Smith, “I don’t think I’ve ever been as disappointed in our fans than at that moment and in one respect you have diehard, loyal fans that after we come off the field losing 38-13 are cheering us going in to the tunnel. But on the other respect you have the majority of fans cheering when a guy that’s given so much to the city as far as wins and losses. The bottom line is wins and losses. As far as in the community, giving back to the city, as far as representing an organization the way you want a quarterback to do, for them to cheer at that moment it was extremely disappointing. That’s all I’ve got to say about that. Extremely disappointing.”
Tackle Duane Brown echoed Smith’s words, saying, “It’s disgusting. I don’t want to address them first; I want to address the fans that were there until the end cheering us on into the tunnel. We appreciate you loyal fans and the fans that stick by us. For the fans that cheered when he got hurt, that’s disgusting. You can feel how you want about him as a player, but this is his livelihood and how he provides for his family. When a man goes down and he is not able to get up, you don’t know what is wrong with him at that point; that could be the last play of his career and for you to applaud at that — I have no words for that.”
And yes, as Johnson pointed out, the Rams did take notice of what occurred.
Said quarterback Sam Bradford, “I know they’re going through some things down here. But I truly believe that there’s not a place in football for that. When it comes to someone’s health, you never cheer when somebody gets injured.”
Concluded coach Jeff Fisher, “It’s disappointing from the standpoint that Matt’s won a lot of games here. The position that he plays in the National Football League is difficult to play at times, but he’s still an outstanding quarterback. … Matt’s a competitor and he’s earned the right for people to respect him here in town.”
