I was grumpy when I got home from the airport on January 5. The Texans lost. The season was over. See you in September.

I am a huge fan of Houston sports in general, but the Texans provide something a little bit more special. They play only once a week for only four (five in a good season) months.

For the entirety of the team’s short history, the Texans had been smothered by mediocrity, changing from bad quarterback to bad quarterback. If we were lucky to make the playoffs, a first or second round exit was common. It was hard to be too devoted. That is, until recently.

In the 2017 NFL Draft, the Texans drafted college-star quarterback Deshaun Watson. I was ecstatic to have a franchise quarterback. I spent a lot of the summer rewatching his college highlights, anticipating a Super Bowl run for the team. He had an amazing beginning to the season but suffered an ACL injury. Tom Savage led the team the rest of the way to an abysmal 4-12 record.

I threw that season away, however, and looked hopefully to the next. I read about Watson’s recovery and couldn’t wait until the 2018 season.

When it finally rolled around, I was filled with so much excitement. I confidently told my dad and brother that I thought we could get a 13-3 record. They just laughed.

On our first offensive play, Deshaun Watson fumbled the snap. Oh. We ended up losing the game. Next game, we played the Titans. We lost by 3. Oh, 0-2 isn’t the best way to start off the season. The next game we played the Giants. This was a must win game. How were we supposed to go far starting 0-3? Well, we lost anyway. Oh. That night, my brother texted me and my dad an article with the headline “The Texans’ season is over” just to mess with me. I simply texted back that we could still go 13-3.

Each week after a loss, I felt frustrated the whole week. I couldn’t help but read about the following week’s matchup.

We won the next couple of games in tight overtime matchups. In the last 10 minutes, I nervously stood next to the TV, pacing the room while screaming and cheering. We began to win by more and all of a sudden went on a 9 game win streak. Those weeks, I felt so happy. I was so focused on every game that I took away a whole afternoon of homework time to watch.

When we made the playoffs, I was so proud and ready to win the Super Bowl. I watched every video of media personnel predicting us to lose and read any online forum I could find. I was in North Carolina the week before when they announced the game between the Colts and Texans in the opening round of the playoffs. The game started at 4:35 and my flight left at 4:45… I needed to see the game. I had watched every game leading up to this point. My dad and I went to the extreme lengths of buying plane WiFi to see the game. I was annoyed the whole flight as the Colts piled touchdowns on us and took the win.

I was crushed and bothered. It frustrates me to see anything about the game now because I know this team has potential.

There are a few flaws, but I know that when we fix them, the Texans will be taking home a Super Bowl victory. But for now, I have to wait until September to see our bright future.