Houston Texans: Top 30 players in franchise history
By T.A. Mock
(2009-13, 2016). Antonio Smith. 25. player. 10. . DE
Antonio Smith was never a star for the Texans, but he was one of the most solid players on the team for his first five-year stretch in Houston. In his first and longer stint, Smith was a stalwart in the trenches. He played in 79 of a possible 80 regular season games, starting in 78 of them.
During those five years, Smith never had fewer than four sacks in a season, but never had more than seven. In total, Smith had 27.5 sacks during those first five years as a Texan. He was a high energy player that provided a ton of swag and confidence to a relatively young defense. It helped those defensive players grow into a phenomenal unit by the end of Smith’s tenure with the team.
The Texans sort of rolled the dice when they signed Smith in 2009 because he was just an average player for the Arizona Cardinals. Smith never started every game in a season for the Cardinals and never had a ton of production for Arizona. But that risk obviously paid off.
“The Ninja” was a fan favorite during his entire time with the team, including his brief return to Houston in 2016. His sack celebration and pre-game introductions (featured above) were stuff of legend. Simply put, you can’t tell the story of the Texans becoming a competitive NFL team without Smith.