In respect to 56

Every group of friends has that one asshole; the guy you love for all the wrong reasons. Usually he is not the biggest or the brightest but you keep him around because of his quick wit and his endearing quips about your other friends… Brian Cushing is the Texans asshole.

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I remember the night vividly. October 8^, 2012, watching the Texans play the New York Jets, only about a month into the NFL’s regular season. At that point the Texans had been dominant, on their way to an early 5-0 record, with absolutely no end in sight.

That night I was at a friend's apartment about a month into my first semester of freshman year. I went to grab a slice of pizza off of the host's dining room table, only to come back into the room with everyone staring wide-eyed into the mounted flat screen. All the joy from the first quarter of the Texan's season was sucked out of the air, and was quickly replaced with misery and despair. The Texans Super Bowl hopes were in serious danger.

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The Texans never pick offensive players in the NFL draft. When we should have picked Vince Young we balked and picked some kid named Mario. In 2010 we picked a pizza delivery boy named Watt, and in 2009, with the 15^th pick in the draft the Texans selected a kid with shoulder length hair from USC named Brian Cushing.

In college Cushing was an enigmatic defender; he played outside linebacker, but he was strong enough to line up as a defensive end. He recorded 3 sacks his senior year, nothing impressive. His numbers were never what wowed scouts, but rather, his versatility, and his natural tendency to lead on the field.

Anyone who did not do their research prior to the draft wouldn’t have seen anything overly impressive with the 6’3 205 pound surfer from Cali, nothing stood out about Cush.

Fast forward one year, and the linebacker was considered to have had one of the most impressive rookie seasons in the history of the league (133 tackles, 4 sacks, 10 pass deflections, 4 interceptions, & 2 forced fumbles). He was voted to start the Pro-Bowl back when it used to mean something… wait… and was selected as a second team All-Pro linebacker.

Cush sat out the first four games of the following season due to doping, which he still denies.

2010-2011 was not a great time for Texans fans, as we regressed from a team that went 9-7 in 09-10 to a basement dweller in the AFC South, finishing 6-10.

Since his rookie season though, Cushing has been making mince meat out of offensive units, namely AFC South starting quarterbacks.

So 2012 seemed like a prime time for the Texans to make a push to the playoffs and beyond, no more Peyton, no more speed bumps in our division, no worries. One thing the Texans didn’t anticipate? An illegal block laid by Matt Slauson.

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In 2012 the Texans started 5-0 thanks in a large part to the defense pioneered by Wade Phillips and lead by Cushing. J.J. Watt was on the rise, Kareem Jackson had finally started coming into his own, and the Texans defense looked insatiable.

Monday night; I most likely should have been studying for a test, but instead I headed over to watch the Texans take on Mark Sanchez and the Funky bunch. The Texans were playing decently, a little sloppy seeing as it was a prime time game, and we never can perform under the watch of scrutinizing fans all across the US of A.

In the second quarter, on a simple run play, Jets offensive lineman Matt Slauson laid one the dirtiest blocks I have seen in my football watching days, barreling into Cushing’s lower leg, helmet first.

Seeing as I was indulging myself in a slice of pizza, I did not get to witness it in real time, but in the highlight I saw the block and then got to see the Texans hopes of a Super Bowl, writhing on the ground in agony.

I stayed up late that night, “studying” and hoping to hear that the injury was a minor bruise, or anything that didn’t threaten to end Cushing’s season. When no news came I decided to go to sleep, and woke up to the worst case scenario; Cushing had torn his ACL, his 2012 was finished, needless to say I was heartbroken.

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This week Brian Cushing anticipates suiting up for the first time in 11 months, as the Texans will play the Dolphins in our second preseason game. I will be watching, waiting for Cushing to lay a vicious blow and make everything right in the H.

The chemistry of our defense was never perfectly balanced following Cush’s injury. As Wade Phillips said,

"We missed him when he was out," defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. "We did a satisfactory job without him, but anytime you lose a great player it's going to hurt you some. And we're glad to have him back."

Everyone, ranging from the 52 man roster, to coaches, to fans alike, everyone knows how pivotal number 56 is to our defense, and we aren’t the same without him douching it up on the football field. 

Because honestly, what is a group of friends without their asshole?

Thanks for the read, next piece: a tasteful selection detailing Jackson Pollock’s influence on the artistic movement of the mid to late 20^th century.