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Greg Ward Jr. SZN
All Texans players will wear the jackets on their trip to Foxboro, Mass., as the Texans face the Patriots on Monday Night Football. The 11-1 Texans may the the best team in the AFC (and perhaps in the NFL), but they're still looking for any motivational edge they can get as they prepare to deal with the 9-3 Pats on national television.
The idea, according to Barwin, was to recall the high school days most every Texans player can fondly remember.
"We have a dress code," Barwin said. "Everybody's going to wear them on the plane, on the trip to New England, on the bus. [I'm] pushing for khaki pants, white shirt, blue tie, jacket, so it looks like we're about to get on a yellow bus with shoulder pads in our hands."
There were no objections. Every player on the team got their own custom jacket with his jersey number and position. Even cornerback Stanforf Routt, acquired off the waiver wire this week, has put in an emergency order so that he can fit in.
The jackets are predominantly Deep Steel Blue with the Texans' logo over the left breast. On the right sleeve just above the elbow is each player's number stacked on top of his position group ? LB, DL, DB, WR, etc. ? in white lettering with red outline. Barwin said the jackets will soon have patches on the left arm to commemorate the Texans' 2011 AFC South title for players who were on the team last season. Captains also will get patches on the left sleeve.
The Texans will add more patches for any future division titles and conference and Super Bowl championships. The idea is to "kind of build a tradition the longer you're here, the more patches you get on your jacket," Barwin said.
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