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T M C » P U L S E | J U N E 2 0 1 8 T M C » P U L S E | J U N E 2 0 1 8 12 Q | Was it fun? A | It was a blast. Good people. If I'm getting to play football, I'm a happy man. So I then came back, and still no phone calls from the NFL. My agent got me a tryout with a UFL team, the Omaha Nighthawks. The league actually doesn't exist anymore—they went under. So I went out there, made the team and then they cut me after training camp. When I got released from there, I thought football was over. I went back to Chicago, worked the same odd jobs. Q | How did you end up playing football in Canada? A | My agent kind of dropped me. He didn't want me to go to Canada because you have to go for a two- year commitment. So I ended up emailing all the CFL guys. I had a highlight tape from Northwestern. One team responded about 10 days later—the Saskatchewan Roughriders. They brought me up for practice squad. After that, I signed a contract for the following two years, 2013 to 2014. We won the Grey Cup in 2013. Q | You signed with the Texans in 2015? A | I got signed by the Vikings that February. I worked out with them all off-season and then they cut me and put me on practice squad for the first three weeks of season. And then the Texans signed me, so I've been here ever since. Q | It's been a long and winding road. How do you feel now that you've been in the NFL for a few years? A | I've played through all the leagues and I'm very grateful for the opportunity. But also, I'm trying to grow and add as much value to the team as I can. It's how I'm wired. I want to contribute. I try to bring the young kids along because I think we've got an absolutely savage football team right now. We've got all the pieces and parts; we've got great chemistry. Q | Are you one of the older players on the team? A | I'm in the upper echelon—29 is definitely old in football years. It's like dog years. It goes quick. Q | Do you think your history and maturity make you a better player? A | Probably the best thing for me was when I came out and did the two mini camps, initially, with the Bucs and the Bears. I got a taste of it. I was like, 'I know I can play.' As much as working those odd jobs sucked, it got me some sense of grit. I'd work all day, take my workout at 9 p.m. at this bum boxing club, and then I'd come home at midnight, eat and go to sleep. I had good friends who let me stay at their place for cheap. Q | The Texans have a rela- tionship with Texas Children's Hospital. Have you spent time there visiting patients? A | I've organized a few visits, and our community director has sent me over a few times, too. I started visit- ing kids at the hospital when I was at Northwestern. Just the simple thing of giving a football or signing an autograph—it's huge. In 2009, when I was playing at Northwestern, I met this one kid, Jack Marshall. He went to sleep one night, woke up and told his parents his legs were burning. He got diagnosed with transverse myelitis [a rare neurolog- ical condition causing inflammation of the spinal cord and, in extreme cases, paralysis]. He was in a wheelchair when I first met him. We played video games—Madden. The next time I saw him, he was walking. He walks with a limp, had a lot of bullying issues and stuff. Eventually, I met his family. Then my family came with me to meet him. My mom and his mom hit it off. Stuff like that just reinforces reasons why you keep going. Motivating him helped moti- vate me. You see a kid who has all the odds stacked against him, who can't use his left leg properly, but he still couldn't have a more positive attitude as he approaches life. Q | You've played football in seriously cold weather in Illinois, Saskatchewan and Minnesota. And now you're in Houston, Texas. Would you rather play in the cold or the heat? A | I played two games in –26 degrees in Saskatchewan. A practice outside one day was–41. So, I'm liking the comfort zone— anywhere between 32 and 70 degrees. Brian Peters was interviewed by Pulse editor Maggie Galehouse. The conversation was edited for clarity and length. Spotlight MEN ' S HEALTH & FITNESS