00:00We are joined by, I think, many people's favorites.
00:05One of their growing favorite players, and that is the first draft pick
00:10of the Houston Texans, their starting offensive lineman, Mr. Keelan Rutledge.
00:16Keelan, man, we appreciate you joining us.
00:19Yes, sir.
00:19Appreciate y'all having me.
00:20Oh, man, here.
00:21We can get this yes, sir thing right on out of the way here, Keelan.
00:24I'm going to be honest with you.
00:26I've been wanting to talk to you,
00:28and I've been wanting to ask you a couple of questions,
00:30and the first thing I need to know is, Keelan,
00:33I sense a little soul coming out of you,
00:36and I think the dead giveaway was that haircut that you are rolling with, Keelan.
00:42What I need to know is, did you start wearing this?
00:45Because, hey, you faded up nice.
00:47No disrespect to people at Great Clips, but that's not a Great Clips cut.
00:54I need to know who's cutting that head,
00:56and was you doing that before you got to an Atlanta?
01:00Yeah, a little bit.
01:01I've kind of had all sorts of haircuts for a while.
01:03I had some curls on top, a little fade on the bottom.
01:06Yeah, I caught that.
01:07Yeah.
01:08Hey, Keelan, let me clean this up for you.
01:11You got a black barber?
01:13Yeah, for sure.
01:15That's what my boy's trying to ask me.
01:16No, he's cutting that head.
01:17That's it.
01:18That's it.
01:22No, man.
01:22No, man.
01:23We appreciate you joining us, man.
01:24What are you looking forward to, man?
01:26This is your first action in the NFL as you kick things off against a tough opponent in the Buffalo
01:32Bills.
01:33What are you looking forward to coming up on Sunday?
01:36Yeah, I mean, just getting out there, obviously, first time.
01:38First time real season action, so it would be great.
01:41Just getting out there, just looking forward to being able to run the ball, establish the ground game up front,
01:46and just control the game the way we want to up front, so it would be fun.
01:50Hey, Keelan, talk a little bit about, I mean, look, we're all human here, man.
01:54We like to get patted on the ass every now and then.
01:56Now all the players do.
01:59Nick Casario last week, I can't remember if it was press conference or when he joined our morning show,
02:05but he went in on Keelan Rutledge being the best offensive lineman in the group.
02:10And I don't want to get off into whether you believe that or not,
02:12but that's a hell of a compliment from the general manager to a rookie offensive lineman.
02:18Is that just your thoughts on kind of where you stand in his eyes and how big of a compliment
02:23that is?
02:24Yeah, I mean, obviously, I appreciate him saying that and stuff like that,
02:27but, I mean, I think just how I'm critical of myself, I think I've got a lot to work on.
02:31There's obviously a lot of stuff I bring to the table, but just try to be me every day.
02:35Just try to be in that certain attitude.
02:37Just try to go out there and be the most physical guy
02:38and kind of lift the guys around me and just be who I am, be who I've always been.
02:42So that's kind of how I take it.
02:43Has that always been Keelan Rutledge, Texans' first-round pick offensive lineman,
02:48joining us here on The Fan?
02:51It seems like, obviously, your physical play has really been impressive,
02:55but I think a lot of people are viewing, from a leadership standpoint,
03:01it seems like almost a changing of the tone from that offensive line group.
03:06Is that something that's just natural for you,
03:09or is that something that you really were mindful of trying to bring when you got here?
03:14No, I mean, I think that's always been me.
03:16Since I can remember, I've always kind of been, you know, really super competitive,
03:22wired a certain way, and kind of bring that kind of swagger to the game.
03:25That's kind of who I've always been.
03:26So, obviously, you know, I got, you know, from high school to college,
03:29transferred that over, and then, you know, going from Middle Tennessee to Georgia Tech,
03:32I've always been the same guy.
03:33So, when I got drafted here, I was like, hey, I'm going to just keep being me,
03:36and that's kind of what I've always marked the table.
03:38Hey, talk to us a little bit about that center guard rotation,
03:41as far as starting camp at center and having those responsibilities
03:44and then moving over to guard.
03:46You know, how'd that shake out,
03:47and what your thoughts are playing guard versus center where you landed?
03:52Yeah, I mean, I think it was great for me to get in the center, actually.
03:54I was in college, you know, played all my time at guard.
03:57Did a little bit center.
03:58I was kind of always an emergency guy, just in case anything happened.
04:01But I think getting here and, you know, being thrown in that center
04:04with a lot of vets around you and you having to make the calls
04:06and, you know, get everybody on the right page was great for me
04:09just because it slowed the game down from when I went back to guard.
04:12So, I think just having that in my toolbox to be able to like,
04:14hey, if there are injuries, I mean, that's a game of football we play.
04:16There's going to be injuries.
04:17So, I can go over there.
04:18I can do this.
04:19I can do that.
04:19So, it makes me a better football player.
04:21It makes me see the game through kind of what the center has to do,
04:24which slows the game down at guard.
04:25So, it was great for me.
04:26Hey, big focus on the run game this year for the Houston Texans.
04:30I mean, that's the big change from previous years is we've got to run the football.
04:35We want to be a run-the-ball-first team.
04:38You know, what is that messaging like where it all starts
04:43in the offensive line room?
04:45Yeah, I mean, it always starts for both sides of the ball.
04:48It always starts up front.
04:49So, I think for us, getting the run game going is just, hey,
04:51starting with the mic, getting everybody on the same page,
04:54getting everybody comboed up, and then just going out there
04:57with a certain kind of attitude.
04:58I think when you run the game, it's technique and stuff,
05:00but it's like, hey, you've got to move somebody from point A to point B,
05:02and that's kind of what we want to do,
05:04and that's what we want to establish.
05:05So, it would be good to get out there Sunday and kind of go do that.
05:07Our listeners here are huge, obvious, huge fans of this Texans team.
05:13They live and die, and it's no secret, and I think you know this,
05:16that the struggles over the last several years have been the offensive line.
05:20That's been a question every single year,
05:22and they have done a lot of different things to try to help this thing out.
05:26To our listeners, you're in the building every day.
05:29You're with these guys every day.
05:31Why should there be a belief that it will be different this year?
05:36Yeah, I mean, I think just the way the O-line room is wired now,
05:39I can't speak from past experiences.
05:41Obviously, I wasn't here, but since I've been here,
05:43we've got the right kind of guys in the building.
05:45We've got guys that love ball, guys that kind of play with a certain kind of swagger,
05:48go out there and finish blocks, and I think we're building that,
05:51and obviously, we've got a long ways to go.
05:53There's always room to improve, but I think we've got the right kind of guys,
05:56and you've got dudes that are wired the right way.
05:58Stuff usually tends to figure its way out.
06:00So, that's why you should be excited for it.
06:03What's your favorite part of game day?
06:07I mean, the camaraderie is what everybody that played misses, obviously,
06:11when it's over, but your favorite part of game weekend,
06:16I know we're at home this weekend, we're not traveling,
06:18but just big picture, Keelan Rutledge, favorite part of leading up to a game
06:22once all the hay is in the barn?
06:25Yeah, I mean, just the excitement.
06:26You've got to go out there and do all your guys, like you said.
06:28I mean, we put a lot of work in this all camp.
06:31Having us five guys, in particular, kind of being on the same page,
06:33and obviously, this whole offense.
06:35So, getting to get out there and get some stuff going,
06:38see the offense succeed, see your brother beside you succeed.
06:40I mean, that's what you hope for.
06:42That's what you work for.
06:43And obviously, as an O-lineman, you want to go out there
06:46and punch somebody in the face and establish a run and set the tone.
06:49So, I think those are things you really look forward to,
06:51and you're kind of giddy up.
06:52And just the opportunity, obviously, to play in the NFL.
06:54I mean, it's second to none.
06:55So, super grateful for that.
06:57And it gets you excited.
06:58It gets you goosebumps every time you think about it.
07:00Yeah, when you say that,
07:01I feel like you really want to punch somebody in the face.
07:03Like, I took like that.
07:06You might actually throw a punch in somebody's face
07:10coming up this weekend.
07:11Man, we appreciate you stopping by and joining us, man.
07:14And good luck coming up on Sunday,
07:17as everybody here will be rooting for you guys.
07:20Yes, sir.
07:20I appreciate y'all having me on.
07:21All right, there he is.
07:23That is Keelan Rutledge.
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