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DJ Bien-Aime
HOUSTON — The offseason approach for Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud was clear: Stay out of the spotlight as much as possible.
Stroud was coming off a season in which he admitted that the fun was missing at times in football. He dealt with more criticism off the field while taking a beating on it, suffering more quarterback hits than almost anyone in the league.
So instead of doing what Stroud did in the 2024 offseason, he limited his public appearances and focused mainly on football, family and his faith.
Stroud started the approach dating back to February, when he was given the opportunity to go to his second straight Pro Bowl as an alternate — but he passed. He wasn’t pleased with how he played in Year 2 after a stellar rookie year, despite his team making it to the divisional round of the playoffs. He made a conscious decision to stay out of the spotlight.
“When you’re young in the NFL, trying to have fun being around, you enjoy a lot of the different things that it comes with,” Stroud told ESPN. “And I think I’ve just grown as a person. … So I just try my best to learn as a man of God, first and foremost, and then, just as an NFL quarterback, just the things to do and not to do.”
That’s not to say Stroud didn’t attend public events, like being courtside during the Houston Rockets-Golden State Warriors playoffs series or being in New York for Fanatics Fest in June.
But this past offseason there were less podcast appearances, less partying with the stars and less documented trips across the world.
He’s still only 23, but Stroud is “still learning” how to navigate offseasons as a face of a franchise. He also wanted to distance himself from the temptations that come with fame to be more aligned with his faith.
“I’ve just evolved and am trying to keep my faith and my relationship with God at the forefront of my life,” Stroud told ESPN. “And I can’t be doing a bunch of different things and doing that. It’s very hypocritical.”
As for this season, things didn’t quite go as planned in the opener. The Los Angeles Rams held Stroud & Co. to zero touchdowns in a 14-9 loss as Stroud completed 19 of 27 passes for 188 yards and an interception.
With the Texans now preparing to take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1-0) on “Monday Night Football” (7 ET, ESPN/ABC), Houston will face a stout defensive line led by two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Vita Vea. The Texans want to keep Stroud protected after he was sacked three times against the Rams and was pressured on 41% of his dropbacks.
“Vita Vea is the guy that gets everything going,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Adding [linebacker Haason Reddick] on the outside, really good group. [Outside linebacker Yaya Diaby], ton of great players — guys who can get after you in the running game, also in the passing game. … We have our work cut out for us.”
Whether Stroud’s new-found balance translates to the football field remains to be seen, but his teammates and coaches have noticed the new approach.
“I really feel like he just went back to the basics for himself,” wideout and draft classmate Xavier Hutchinson told ESPN. “He went back to what he truly cares about. It wasn’t so much the once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. He really just honed in on his craft this offseason. You can tell.”
HOUSTON WAS 11-38-1 in the three seasons before Stroud’s arrival. But after selecting Stroud with the No. 2 draft pick and hiring Ryans in 2023, the franchise’s fortunes turned around.
Despite 2024 ending with the same results as Stroud’s rookie year — losing in the second round of the playoffs after winning the AFC South title with a 10-7 record — things felt (and looked) different.
Stroud accumulated historical numbers in his first season, when he won Offensive Rookie of the Year. Of his many achievements, he became the fifth rookie to pass for more than 4,000 yards in a season, and he became the youngest quarterback (22 years, 102 days) to win a playoff game.
In total, he had 4,108 passing yards (eighth most) and his 23-5 touchdown-interception ratio led the league.
As a result, Stroud’s popularity skyrocketed, highlighted by having the No. 1 jersey sales from April through October in 2024.
“Walking around the street, I get a little more recognition and people noticing me, but I just try to show love,” Stroud said. “Let people know I’m a normal person that just plays football on TV sometimes.
“I think I’m pretty normal, I don’t know. But I’m blessed to be this man for sure.”
But in Year 2, the hits on Stroud mounted, and he was sacked 52 times (second most) and was pressured on 38.6% of his dropbacks (third most), according to NFL Next Gen Stats. He finished 15th in passing yards (3,727) and was tied for 15th in passing touchdowns (20).
Throughout Stroud’s first offseason, he leaned into the visibility. He appeared on popular podcasts like “The Million Dollaz Worth of Game,” where he labeled himself a top-five quarterback, and “The Pivot,” where he said his goal was to win MVP.
Stroud also forged a friendship with former Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons, who has since been traded to the Green Bay Packers, and they would do a podcast together. The duo also did a four-hour show on Bleacher Report covering the 2024 NFL draft and traveled to Tokyo to participate in various activities, most notably sumo wrestling, in a mini-series called “Micah & C.J. Take Tokyo.”
This doesn’t mean Stroud wasn’t focused on football. That offseason, he still stayed in contact with his coaches and teammates to discuss schematics and still trained with his personal quarterback coach back in his home state of California.
He would send teammates clips of Texans playoff games to improve on their flaws, and he invited two key newcomers, running back Joe Mixon and All-Pro wideout Stefon Diggs, to his house to watch film. He also flew his receivers and tight ends to Miami and Los Angeles to train together.
“I think [the offseason was] a successful one,” Stroud said in 2024 about balancing the fame and staying focused. “It was my first one, so I can learn from this, and now, next year have more of an idea on how that goes in the offseason.”
STROUD AND HIS camp realized his 2024 schedule was taxing. So there was a major reversal in 2025 as Stroud stated: “I enjoy my privacy.”
Even though Stroud doesn’t feel like the podcasts had “bad” intentions, he learned that his comments can create what he feels are unnecessary headlines.
“When you’re going on a podcast, sometimes they use you, and I learned that,” Stroud said. “I don’t want to be used just for clout and clickbait. I don’t want to be on [media outlets] every week. But at the end of the day, it’s the life I sign up for. So I’m grateful for both. I can’t accept the good and not [the] bad. I’ve learned I like to be behind the shadows more now than I did when I was younger.
“I spent a lot of time with my family this offseason, a lot of time with my friends at the beach — just doing nothing, just clearing my mind.”
Even though Stroud did some promotional work in the offseason, he was more judicious with his time. He declined a lot of interviews, according to a person close to Stroud. The most notable were a feature for GQ Magazine and the Netflix docuseries “Quarterback,” produced by Hall of Famer Peyton Manning.
“I think people can look at what you do, and they try to attach that to you as a football player,” right tackle Tytus Howard told ESPN. “If you go out and do something, then you have a bad game, people are like ‘Oh, well, he was partying.’ I think [Stroud] just got older, and he is just making wise decisions on what he lets the world see, and that’s just smart of him.”
According to Stroud, the time with his family and close friends also helped keep him “sane.”
“I’m more cautious of those things now, words do matter,” Stroud said. “People quote stuff that you don’t even say. I’ve learned just to shut my mouth sometimes and just mind my own business. And it’s worked for me. I’ve had a lot of peace this offseason, enjoying time with the fam and friends and really by myself.”
As he navigates Year 3, the expectations are even higher in Houston. But for Stroud, he remains true to his path.
“Don’t ever love to love and don’t ever hate the hate, because it’s all temporary,” Stroud said. “I love to get biblical, but Solomon in Ecclesiastes talks about everything is vanity. Everything is futile. So everything will be here today and gone tomorrow. In 100 years people probably won’t remember me. I honestly never thought like that until this past year. I’ve just been growing as a person.”