After meandering career, Fells finds stability in Houston
Darren Fells’ career renaissance earned him the hard-won confidence of Bill O’Brien and the biggest contract of his NFL career.
A former European basketball player who didn’t play college football at California-Irvine, Fells caught a career-high seven touchdown passes last season as the Texans’ starting tight end. That ranked the 34-year-old third in the NFL among all tight ends.
Fells’ breakthrough season was rewarded with a two-year, $6.3 million contract. But beyond the money, he achieved a status of long-term stability few predicted for him when he switched sports and committed to football as a vocation.
“Obviously, it’s one of those things that I know I had to adjust to every single year having to go to a new team, so being able to come back to the same team and have a home, that’s a huge thing,” Fells said Thursday. “Also knowing my role going back in there and knowing what they expect from me, so I was able to work on things that I know I can improve on and get better on and help out the team pretty much.”
Fells finished last season with a career-high 34 receptions for 341 yards. He also caught another touchdown in the playoffs and provided strong blocking at the line of scrimmage or on the perimeter sealing off defenders.
After bouncing around the NFL with Arizona, Detroit and Cleveland, Fells has become an important part of the Texans’ offense.
“Here’s a guy that didn’t even play college football, he was a basketball player,” said O’Brien, the Texans coach and general manager. “Really a guy that is just a really mature, good person who cares
about winning, who cares about being a good teammate. He really works hard to improve. We do a lot of things with the tight ends, and he came into our system last year and he really learns well.
“He was able to produce. Deshaun (Watson) has a lot of confidence in him in the passing game. You’re right, he’s a technically proficient blocker on the edge, which that’s hard to find at that position. I’m glad we were able to bring him back.”
Once a professional basketball player in Belgium, Finland, France, Mexico and Argentina, Fells has taken to football quickly. He’s entering his eighth NFL season.
“Still surreal,” Fells said. “One more year and I’ve actually played football longer than I’ve played basketball, college and professional combined. It’s still surreal that I can be playing at a high level for so long and as old as I am, I guess.
“Football to me is the ultimate team sport, so I’ve built a lot of great relationships. Football has definitely brought a family mentality for me. Being able to play in the league for eight years and build great relationships and play football is a dream.”
Unlike many NFL players, Fells’ body is remarkably well-preserved. He has avoided major injuries and been able to play at an age when most tight ends are long since retired. Playing basketball initially has given him a boost of longevity.
“The obvious point is it’s not as physical as football,” Fells said. “A lot of guys tell me that four years of college was extremely tough on their body, so not having to do that and coming into the NFL after five years of playing overseas is a huge difference when it comes to the physicality and injuries that would occur in college compared to playing basketball. I tell people you just take four years, maybe five years off because of basketball, so I’m not really in my 30s yet.”
Fells and Watson have built excellent timing and chemistry, especially on run-option plays. Watson routinely fakes a handoff and either keeps it himself or lobs the football high where only Fells can come down with the pass.
“He is one of the most phenomenal quarterbacks I’ve ever played for,” Fells said. “His ability to learn from mistakes extremely quick is huge. I’ve never seen him miss two passes twice. He’ll miss one at practice one day and then he’ll never miss that again.
“That, in my mind, is one of the main differences that make up an average quarterback and a great quarterback. His ability to communicate, both in the huddle on the field (and) off the field, is huge. It just shows that he’s maturing extremely fast and he’s on another level when it comes to that ability.”
Fells spends a lot of time mentoring younger tight ends like Kahale Warring and Jordan Thomas. Both players have dealt with a lot of injuries over the past year and trail Fells and Jordan Akins on the depth chart.
“I’ve always thought those two are extremely great athletes, great players,” Fells said. “The biggest thing for them is just getting out there. So when they’re able to get on the field, I have no doubt in my mind that they can perform extremely well.”
When the Texans traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Cardinals for running back David Johnson, it reunited Fells with his former teammate.
“We played in Arizona for four years, so being able to rekindle our little relationship we had in Arizona and now back here in Houston, it’s been a lot of fun catching up,” Fells said. “Now he has two kids, and I have two kids. Obviously with the times, we can’t really get together as much as we want to, but we’re just relating to each other in that aspect and then just helping him out with the offense as much as I can.”
Fells spent the majority of the coronavirus pandemic hanging out with his wife and young children. That included riding bikes, going swimming and staying safe.
“My wife made me stay home because she said I’m the moneymaker, so I’m not allowed to get sick,” Fells said. “I was doing a lot more fatherhood stuff, just spending a lot of time with my kids and enjoying that time that I had.”