DeMeco Ryans Uses NASA's Artemis II Mission to Rally Texans on Day One
The coach compared his team's season-opening buildup to a rocket launch, telling players they have '47 days until they launch' against the Bills.
Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans opened training camp by drawing on NASA's upcoming Artemis II mission to set the tone for his team, telling players in a meeting room address that they have "47 days until they launch" against the Buffalo Bills on September 13.
What was the actual message?
Ryans noted that NASA "spent three years building a team to go further than anyone has gone before," referencing the astronaut training behind Artemis II, which will carry a crew around the Moon. He closed by borrowing NASA's own launch-readiness language, asking his team directly: "Are you a go?"
Why did this moment stand out?
The team's own video crew was let into the meeting room to film the speech, something Houston hadn't done before for an internal team address, a sign of how much significance the organization placed on it. Team reporter Marc Vandermeer called it possibly the top moment of the entire camp, saying it "gave us chills."
Is there a real NASA connection to the team?
Yes, separate from this speech. The Texans hosted a "Space City Day" with NASA's Johnson Space Center during a game earlier this year, a legitimate ongoing tie given Houston is home to Johnson Space Center. Artemis II itself will carry astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who trained for three years in a mock Orion capsule at the facility.
Sources
- ESPN: Texans' Ryans uses 'Artemis II' space launch to set expectations
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