George Foreman: A theory on the lack of sizable Houston Sports success

George Foreman is one of the most beloved athletes. But one theory indicates he could be responsible for a lack of Houston Sports success. What’s going on?

Not too long ago, the Houston Sports Awards recently announced their four new inductions for the second class of the Hall of Fame. Among those nominated were former Houston Oiler quarterback Dan Pastorini, legendary stock-car driver A.J. Foyt, and former golfer and Master’s champion Jackie Burke Jr. But perhaps the biggest name of the four new inductees was George Foreman, former boxing heavyweight champion.

There’s no question that George Foreman has been and will always be one of Houston’s favorite athletes. You could perhaps make a case that he’s the best athlete that’s represented Houston in any sport in any time outside of Hakeem Olajuwon. But while we can appreciate George Foreman‘s personality these days and for what he achieved in his career, we can also blame him for hurting Houston’s chances of more titles by retiring.

What are you blabbing about?

I’m going to play a little devil’s advocate here with this entry but there seems to be something that hasn’t been talked about in Houston at least. Everyone is aware of Houston’s past of not being able to win titles.

It wasn’t until 1994 that Houston won their first championship with the Rockets. Yet, there were times when Houston had went through some devastating heartbreak. People might look at it as being cursed. Heck, one Houston newspaper had a famous headline expressing their feelings. But other times, people might just say it’s a bad break and we weren’t good enough.

Then, out of the blue, an ESPN Classic Documentary about reasons not to blame Phi Slamma Jamma for not winning an NCAA title gave people (specifically this author) a theory to consider. This theory involves one George Foreman. What does he have to do with Houston Sports and their heartbreaks? Well, this involves a period when George Foreman retired in 1977 and didn’t come back until 1990. Because of his absence, Houston went through a stretch where things went wrong for them.

Not sure where I’m going with this? Let me give you the lowdown.