http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6126229.html Solomon: Texans give Robinson a way out By JEROME SOLOMON Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Nov. 22, 2008, 12:36PM With three up, seven down and a miracle run away from anything meaningful this season, we’re allowed to spend some time talking about the Texans’ tomorrow. Not just Sunday when they travel to Cleveland hoping to prove they still have a pulse (clear!), but the future, when they hope to be among the league’s best. The Texans’ road to respectability is about to become more difficult. A love affair cut short? As unsure as we are of whether their current road map soon will get them out of mediocrity (if they are even there yet), we are just as sure that reaching said destination will be more difficult without Dunta Robinson on the roster. Robinson is returning to the starting lineup for the first time since suffering a nasty injury in Oakland more than a year ago, but logic says he’ll be leaving the Texans after the season. Texans fans have about six weeks to enjoy watching the toughest player to ever don the Deep Steel Blue and Battle Red. His teammates love him. The fans love him. The Texans love him, and need him. Importance undeniable “This team needs that guy out there making plays, and his energy on the field, for us to be successful,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “This organization needs him to step forward and seeing him take over his old role is going to be important. It’s very important.” And we know Robinson loves Houston and the Texans. “I don’t want to finish my career with another team,” Robinson said. But when it comes to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, he will consider his options. When he does … Five years as a Texan probably has taken a disproportionate number of years off his football life. As a free agent at the end of the season, Robinson will be offered liberty that NFL players must explore. As for happiness, Robinson is happier to be a Houstonian than is he to be a Texan. He plays to win games and the Texans don’t win enough games. He calls it frustration. When he decides on his future this offseason, he might more accurately describe the feeling as disgust. Who could blame him? Isn’t that the feeling many Texans fans have about some of the sad moves their favorite franchise has made? Like all of the ultra-competitive set, Robinson is exalted by victory and crushed by defeat. When you see him in the locker room after a Texans loss, it’s as if the air has been sucked out of him. That wears on a person. More cons than pros At some point, Robinson is going to say enough is enough. That point is likely to be when others — teams which have had winning seasons, playoffs runs, championships — come calling on the hard-hitting cornerback with the heart of a champion and the leadership skills to match. When Robinson sits down to do a pros-and-cons list on whether he should stay, the pros might fit on the inside of a matchbook cover, while the cons could roll off like a scroll of the Harris County Jail roster. The Texans could have negotiated a new deal with Robinson after he earned his keep with three years of very solid play as the team’s best defender and an up-and-coming league talent. Instead, they waited. Well, after Robinson had his hamstring literally stripped off the bone and tore both the anterior cruciate and lateral collateral ligaments in his left leg, there was a quiet sigh of relief in the front office that Robinson hadn’t already been given a whopping signing bonus. Woulda, coulda, shoulda Sounds cold, but that’s the football business. That doesn’t make Bob McNair cheap; it makes him an NFL owner. The Texans should have locked Robinson up before the injury. As a rule, you don’t regularly extend a guy’s contract with two years remaining, but you make exceptions for your best two or three players — guys you can’t replace. Dunta Robinson should have been an exception. Waiting until the final year of a player’s contract before negotiating the next deal often works. It worked this time for the Texans, too, in a way — Robinson got hurt. With Robinson injured and not expected to return until midseason and understandable doubts that he would return at all, they drafted Antwaun Molden in the third round and made a generous donation to free agent Jacques Reeves. Well, Molden can’t yet run with the defense and worse, Reeves can’t hide from opponents’ offenses. The post-injury Robinson might never be worth what the Texans should have given him before he was hurt, but knowing his diagnosis, and his heart, they should have tried to work up an incentive-laden deal this past offseason. What is he worth now? Even ailing, he’s the best He is not even 100 percent yet, but he is back. He is the Texans’ best corner. He would be their best corner next season, too. Why haven’t the Texans made a move to try to avoid bidding for his services against the rest of the league? Perhaps they think Reeves … sorry, no need to even throw that in there. Perhaps there is a fear of going to McNair to ask for cash when the wheels are falling off. That would be like a teenager asking for an advance on his allowance while he is grounded. Are Kubiak and general manager Rick Smith grounded? Will we have this conversation next year about DeMeco Ryans? Sometimes when you’re talking Texans, there seems to be less hope for tomorrow than tomorrow.
need to take corner with the first pick, assuming there's a corner there at that spot worthy of the first pick. i would hate to lose dunta. one of the few players on this team that i feel any sense of connection with as a fan.
please find a way to keep the guy. my favorite texan by far.. i have his jersey, and i'll get slaton's next year.
Vontae Davis (Vernon Davis' younger brother). He's a stud CB and projected to be a better pro than his brother. Personally I would take Malcolm Jenkins. He's more of a proven player. If Jenkins is off the boards I would go for Davis which is at least the second best CB. Speaking of 2nd best CB's in the draft didn't we draft Dunta after Atlanta picked Deangelo Hall back in 2004? How come we didn't get him after the Raiders let him go? I think he was in a horrible situation in Oakland and could've solidified our secondary. Nevermind his prima dona attitude. Kid could flat out play. We need to infuse some character in this club. If we can have someone like Travis Johnson on our team (who by the way doesn't do jack for this team) might as well get some one with the same personality but far better talent.
We need Dunta on this team, but I can't say I agree with the writer of that article that the Texans were somehow stupid for not extending him before this last season. I think it is perfectly reasonable to wait until the last year or so of the contract before doing the extension. Dunta just happened to get hurt. If he comes back to full speed and ability, it won't be a big deal. They'll sign him back if he is willing. If not, I don't blame the team for waiting.
Just Houston Comical hacks stirring crap up because they have nothing better to do (like actual journalism). How about an opinion column on the first relevant UH/Rice game in like forever?
OK someone tell me why we would not or legally cannot put the franchise tag on Dunta. I thought it was elementary. Am I missing something here? Are the Texans needing the franchise tag for someone else?
dunta is a free agent coming up, this is an issue. he also brings up the contract situation with other members of the secondary.
Of course free agency is an issue. So, let's extrapolate frustration with losing into "he's probably going to want to go for more money to a team that's more likely to win" and the other winner: "how many years off of his 'football life' has playing for the Texans taken off"? a) Every one of us at the water cooler can come up with, "I wonder if Dunte will want to go play for a winner?" b) Most of us at the water cooler are wondering how throwing your body 80 plays a game at 100 miles an hour for a winner is somehow less wearing than doing so while losing? Come on, Solomon. Write something my 10th grader couldn't, for cryin' out loud. Two thumbs (yet again) down.
You can assign the franchise tag on a new player each year. ...I know you were joking but we kinda need to get a serious answer as to the Dunta/Franchise tag issue....
dude, you're being silly as usaual about the media. its sports, jerome: "dunta, do you want to stay in houston" dunta: "no" yeah, like that's going to happen. these guys get paid to fill a column every day, maybe you should dial down the expectations
Dunta is one of my favorite Texan. I would like to draft the following: a pass rusher opposite Mario, a fast cornerback that can play on the ball, and a tough as nails safety that destroys receivers that come across the middle. Order of the picks I will leave to the experts. I would also pick up a space eating defensive tackle in free agency. I also would like to change our defensive philosophy. I like the 4-3 but I prefer a blitzing and attacking style to a bend but not break approach. I think a defense needs to be aggressive which translates to turnovers. We are already getting beat deep, why not get a few more sacks and harder hits.
I read sports sections from other cities. They don't suck, not even half as bad, as this joke in Houston. I guess it's silly to wish our "journalists" didn't routinely embarrass our great city by cranking out mindless drivel. Did he interview Dunte at all? From the looks of the column, no. (At least I HOPE he didn't interview Dunte and only come up with that garbage!!) He's simply reading a couple of post-game pressers and comments and opining accordingly. You know, like any of us who don't have access to the locker room could also do. Heh. I thought they were paid to write columns. You know, do at least a bit of research; maybe reread/proofread. Not type something out like it's your "blog" and call it a "column". For the fourth largest city in the nation. That's it! I should expect it to be on par with something from some smaller burg like Pearland or Alvin. Or Francitas. Or Bedias, maybe. Let's not expect excellence, let's celebrate mediocrity! This approach may also help me enjoy Texans games better. Hey, there were no blatant factual inaccuracies in the column, and no immediate flip-flops from a prior week! "Baby steps."
really, did you know jerome wrote for what is considered the best sports section in the nation, the boston globe jerome used to do a weekly show with dunta on espn 97.5, if its one columnist who knows him, its jerome exactly its a column no, maybe you shouldn't expect who killed jfk type columns in a sports section
