“First of all, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” said Houston Texans rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud after losing to the Baltimore Ravens on Saturday (Jan. 20).
An honest Stroud admitted that blowout losses, like the 34-10 defeat handed to the Texans by the Ravens, “suck” and that “it’s tough to get embarrassed like that, but I think our future is definitely bright.”
Stroud shared how he is able to lean on his faith in Christ during tough losses.
“It’s what I lean on through the thick and thin. I know I’m upset right now, but I’m really just blessed looking back on this year,” he said. “This opportunity we had today to play in front of millions of people again. You know, I’m just really grateful to God for all the opportunities that he’s blessed me with and I’m just gonna lean on him and I know that this isn’t the end for me.”
“I’m just super blessed with the guys who I lined it up with every week this year. And I’m just really, really thankful to God, just on how much he’s brought me from,” Stroud added. “I can go all the way back since I was a kid, to college, to week one, then to now. Like I’ve grown as a person and as a man of God in a lot of different ways. I’m just really blessed for that.”
The 22-year-old NFL rookie believes that it was God’s plan for him to be on this Houston Texans team. “I was honestly trusting God that he’d put me on the right team, with the right coaches, and with the right players. All in all, it seems like that was true. So I’m just really thankful for that,” he said.
As Stroud’s season comes to an end, he is looking forward to some time of rest. However, he is already looking toward next season with the hope of not only repeating the team’s success of this year but also taking the Texans further in the playoffs and being a solidified AFC South Super Bowl contender, a marked shift for an NFL franchise that had not recorded more than four wins in the previous three seasons.
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Stroud finished the season with 4,108 passing yards and 23 touchdown passes. He rushed for three touchdowns and only threw five interceptions. “I’m just super, super blessed, man,” Stroud told reporters. “I’m gonna continue to work my tail off next year to make the city of Houston proud, my family members proud, and God proud.”
During a Houston Texans’ press conference on Monday (Jan. 22), Stroud expressed how thankful he was that God blessed him with such a successful first year in the NFL.
“I’m just super thankful for God, for really just having a rookie year like I had,” Stroud said. “To be able to be mentioned with a whole bunch of greats and be playing against the greats—it’s been just a blessing.”
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