HOUSTON – It was an emotional day Sunday for all who knew and loved former Texans defensive end Earl Cochran.
Cochran passed on Oct. 31 at age 44. He was honored with a moment of silence at the Texans’ home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium.
Cochran and Texans coach DeMeco Ryans were close friends and teammates with the AFC South franchise and in high school at Lanier in Bessemer, Alabama.
“I’m just thankful for finding a way to win this game, especially coming in with a heavy heart,” Ryans said after the comeback win over the Jaguars. “I lost my best friend, Earl Cochran. I know he’s smiling down on us right now. He would be very proud.”
Ryans was an NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and second-round draft pick from Alabama who was three years behind Cochran at Lanier.
Cochran played at Alabama State and went undrafted before joining the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings. He played 24 games with the Texans and recorded three sacks.
Ryans will attend Cochran’s funeral in Bessemer on Wednesday.
“You talk about Earl, just a stand-up guy, close friend, loving, caring, big heart, give the shirt off his back to anybody,” Ryans said. “Just treated people the right way, loved people, always had a big smile, big heart, very wise. I ‘m just thankful to have had him as a friend here.”
Ryans told the team about Cochran and his relationship with him during a team meeting.
“He talked about losing his best friend, former player here and he carried that on his shoulders since last Friday and didn’t say anything until last night,” Texans linebacker and team captain Azeez Al-Shaair said. “So, it was just all of us collectively, just having a lot of emotion, excited, happy for him, happy for the organization.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com
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