Matt Schaub already has nine turnovers this season, versus just eight touchdowns.
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There are a few rules of sports fan decorum you don’t break. Don’t throw stuff on the field. Don’t run on the field. And don’t cheer when players get hurt.
Oh, and especially don’t cheer when it’s a player on your team!
Texans fans broke that cardinal rule on Sunday when starting quarterback Matt Schaub went down with an injury. Schaub injured his ankle in the third quarter of a rout by the Rams and had to be helped off the field. The crowd, fed up with the Texans’ soon-to-be four-game losing streak and Schaub’s struggles, cheered. He was replaced by T.J. Yates.
Obviously it wasn’t the whole crowd, but it was a pretty good smattering, judging by this video.
Of course, Texans fans were already burning $200 Schaub jerseys in the parking lot a couple weeks ago. There were even reports fans had gone to Schaub’s house this week and taunted and jeered outside.
The irony is that Schaub had thrown a pick-six in four straight games— an NFL record. He didn’t have one Sunday, but after Yates came in, he threw one to Alec Ogletree. Oh, sweet, bitter irony.
The Texans players heard the cheers after the game and soundly, and rightly, slammed the fans in no uncertain terms.
“It’s bad when members of the other team are saying that’s messed up that they would do something like that,” All Pro wide receiver Andre Johnson told reporters. “It just shows no class. It wasn’t all the fans. But those are the same people that you’re out somewhere with your family and you tell them they can’t have an autograph right now, those are the same people that tell you you’re rude.”
It’s a very good point by Johnson. And I’m guessing the guys (and girls) in that jersey-burning video are the fans he speaks of.
“We appreciate you loyal fans and the fans that stick by us— I want to put that out there first,” offensive lineman Duane Brown told reporters. “But for the fans that cheered when he got hurt, that’s disgusting.”
Follow Metro New York Sports Editor Mark Osborne on Twitter @MetroNYSports. He never cheers for injuries for his Browns. The backup will be just as bad.
