Last week, the Texans traded CB Sherrick McManis to Chicago for FB Tyler Clutts. The journey Clutts has taken to make it in the NFL is remarkable.
Clutts, 27, has changed positions multiple times throughout his football life. He arrived in college at Fresno State as a linebacker. In his second year, Clutts was moved from linebacker to defensive end and had 23.5 sacks in college.
Clutts went undrafted in 2008 and spent a year with the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League. He was released before training camp in 2009, and he caught on with the Utah Blaze in the Arena Football League, where he played defense and special teams.
With the NFL dream bleak, he spent offseasons working as an insurance broker in Fresno.
“When I got back from Canada -- their season was only six months -- and then you’re home for six months, I was like I might as well get a jump on my career,” Clutts said. “So, it was a job that kind of fell into my lap. I actually was an active insurance broker for two years.”
In 2010, Clutts caught on with the Sacramento Mountain Lions in the UFL, where he moved to fullback. He signed with the Cleveland Browns after a season there and has worked his way up in the NFL. Clutts played all 16 games for the Bears last season.
Throughout the journey, Clutts naturally had his doubts that he would make it to the NFL.
“I would say I was probably a week or two from hanging up my cleats,” he said. “Luckily, my wife encouraged me to keep pushing forward, and it all paid off.”
Now, the Texans have a more traditional fullback to go alongside the versatile James Casey. Clutts will also play special teams, and he even filled in as an emergency long snapper in Chicago last year.
Considering his journey, Clutts certainly has an appreciation for his new job with the Texans.
“Sometimes you don’t get a clear picture of where you’re at, and then you walk into the locker room and you see a lot of guys you’ve been watching for years and years and it kind of hits you,” he said. “Especially being here in Houston and the team that’s here, the attitude that they have, I’m blown away and so impressed with the character that’s around here and the work ethic and the drive. What this team wants to accomplish this year is so clear."
Quick Hits
- DE J.J. Watt (elbow) figures to be fully healthy against Miami. “I’ll feel really good,” Watt told reporters. “I think I’ll be 100 percent. Had my first full-padded practice [Monday]. It felt really good. I’m really excited about it. It doesn’t really feel like it’s going to hinder me at all.”
- WR Trindon Holliday had three special-teams touchdowns this preseason. He credits his success to extra studying that he did in the offseason. “Just watching film and knowing where my blockers are going to be, where the holes are going to be and to just hit the hole when it’s there,” Holliday told reporters.
Follow Texans blogger Sean Bielawski on Twitter, @CBSSportsNFLHOU.