The Texans made one of the most difficult cuts in franchise history when general manager Brian Gaine and head coach Bill O’Brien decided to release punter Shane Lechler.
The decision means rookie Trevor Daniel, who was an undrafted free agent, will be the Texans punter.
From nearby East Bernard, Lechler was a star at Texas A&M before becoming one of the most dominant punters in NFL history.
He has been named First-Team All Pro six times and elected to seven Pro Bowls.
On August 7th, during training camp, Daniel said it was special to learn from Lechler even though Shane knew it could cost him his job.
“It’s been great,” Daniel said then. “He’s going into his 19th season. So he’s somebody I can look up to. He’s been giving me a lot of pointers and helping me out a lot. He’s a good guy to be able to learn from.
“That says a lot about him. He could lose his job. That could happen, but he’s still showing me the ropes and trying to help me be as good as I can be. That says a lot about him.
Daniel had to beat the best to earn the job, and the Texans believe he did just that.
Meanwhile, Lechler said Thursday night that if he didn’t win the job, retiring was not on his radar.
“I invested a lot of time since March,” Lechler said after the final preseason game. “If I was going to retire I would have done it before they had this offseason program workouts for sure.