Confident corner
›› Cornerback Charles James II, formerly of the Texans, chafes at the idea he has to spend time on practice squads.
Cornerback Charles James II warmed up shirtless in freezing weather and snow before the Texans played the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Dec. 4.
Less bellicose and liberated, he was embracing the privileges of being a man paid to play Sundays. He had spent much of his early years feeling trapped on one practice squad or another, the group of 10 players a team uses in practices but not in games.
Star of the TV show
Most fans discovered James, 26, two summers ago, when HBO documented Texans training camp in the series “Hard Knocks.” He appeared on screen with an endearing burst of puppy-eyed exuberance and cackles, but privately he stewed about his peripatetic life as an NFL mercenary.
“Damn the practice squad, I know I’m good enough,” was his mentality.
Starting in 2013, he passed through practice squads with the New York Giants, Texans and Baltimore Ravens, before he stuck on the Texans’ active roster during the 2015 season. The Packers contest marked his 21st game for the Texans, which made him a hard-fought success story, given the job instability practice squad players experience.
“A lot of people don’t even know that,” he said, sounding slighted. “They just remember ‘Hard Knocks.’ It’s my fourth year in the league.”
He describes the practice squad like an internment. Unable to play, the group watched home games from an upper-level suite. This tormented James.
“I was so (angry) that I didn’t get to play on Sunday, like, what type of (expletive) is this?” he said. “I’m not allowed to be out there.”
James became guarded. After playing in 12 games his rookie year with the Giants, he was released and spent the 2014 season on the Texans’ practice squad. He arrived in Houston with only a backpack of essentials: underwear, one pair of socks, one pair of shoes, one pair of shorts, one hat and a few shirts.
He hit a low point a year later in Baltimore, despite the smile he flashed on HBO that summer. He initially was so hopeful on the Ravens’ practice squad that he signed a 12-month lease for an apartment. Then, during a six-day span in October, the Ra- vens activated him on a Tuesday, they cut him on a Saturday and the Texans signed him back on a Monday.
James was gratified to break through with the Texans, but he felt the vestigial sting of being kept off past rosters.
“I knew I never wanted to go back to the practice squad,” he said. “You’re expendable.”
For all the frustration over his circumstances, James (5-9, 179) said he never suffered from jealousy because he appreciated the privilege and pressure of playing on game days.
Although he hated watching games unfold without him, he knew that costing his team a victory with bad coverage could end his career.
Given the cold shoulder
“The grass ain’t always greener on the other side,” he said. “What if, all of a sudden, you’re that person, you get bombed for 60 yards and you get cut?”
With that, James, once a forlorn practice squad player, seemed to foreshadow his fate on the other side of the NFL scrap heap following the Packers game.
The Texans lost to the Packers 21-13, chiefly because of a fourth-quarter touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordy Nelson. Nelson was left open when James slipped on the icy Lambeau Field turf. The Texans cut him the next day
He signed with the Indianapolis Colts last Monday.