Astros sports NFL jerseys on getaway day
HOUSTON -- With the start of the NFL season one day away, manager Bo Porter was planning to allow his players and coaching staff to wear NFL jerseys on the team's flight to San Francisco following Wednesday's game. Houston opens a four-game series in Oakland on Thursday.
The Texans, of course, were well-represented, with Porter (Andre Johnson), Jose Altuve (J.J. Watt), Chia-Jen Lo (Watt), Erik Bedard (Arian Foster), Josh Zeid (Watt), Jarred Cosart (Watt), Matt Dominguez (Foster), Brett Oberholtzer (Foster) and Robbie Grossman (Ed Reed) among those wearing the local team's colors.
And there were no shortage of 49ers fans, led by Bay Area native Brett Wallace, who lent 49ers jerseys to several of his teammates.
"I had like five or six jerseys, and I gave one to [Chris] Carter, one to [Trevor] Crowe and one to [Brandon] Barnes," Wallace said. "I had quite a few. I was advertising if anyone wanted to come to a big-time team, they could wear one. I think a lot of guys will be repping the Niners."
Oberholtzer grew up an Eagles fan while living in Delaware, but he said he had to support the local team.
"When I went shopping for a jersey, obviously they're not going to have any Eagles attire around here," he said. "It's a big Cowboys-Texans state. I like the Texans. I play for the Houston Astros, and I feel like I have to support the fellow sports teams."
There were, of course, a few Cowboys jerseys, led by outfielder L.J. Hoes (Miles Austin jersey) and shortstop Marwin Gonzalez (Jason Witten). Catcher Jason Castro grew up in the Bay Area and planned to wear a Patrick Willis jersey of the 49ers.
"A lot of my friends and my groups of friends are all Niners fans," Castro said.
Among some of the other jerseys represented: Robert Griffin III (Paul Clemens ), Matt Ryan (Jake Elmore ), Eric Berry (Dallas Keuchel ) and Marshawn Lynch (Kevin Chapman ).
"I'm more of a fan of players," Crowe said. "I like Baltimore's defense. I'll probably root for the Texans this year. Ed Reed is over here now. I love Ed Reed."