HOUSTON – Growing up in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Texans Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud was more than a football player.
He also was a standout basketball player with a sharp jump shot. Stroud is still known among his teammates for his accuracy as a long-distance shooter.
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And Stroud has accepted an invitation to play in the NBA celebrity all-star game on Feb. 16 at Lucas Oil stadium during all-star weekend.
Stroud will be joined by Micah Parsons, Metta World Peace, Conor Daly, A.J. McLean, Walker Hayes and several others.
Stroud was named the Athlete of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year during the Houston Sports Awards.
Stroud finished the season with 4,557 yards, ranking second in NFL history among all rookies behind Andrew Luck’s 4,662 yards.
“For really just having a rookie year like I had and to be able to be mentioned with a whole bunch of greats and be playing against the greats, it’s been just a blessing and really, my plan is I just want to be the best,” Stroud said. “I don’t want to be just the best rookie, the best second-year dude. I want to be the best: point-blank, period. I’m excited to get going with that.”
Stroud was previously named the Pro Football Writers of American NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and Rookie of the Year and is the frontrunner for the Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Stroud, 22, became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game. He joined Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to lead the NFL in passing yards per contest and touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio.
He passed for a rookie franchise-record 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions and a passer rating of 100.8, marking the third-best passer rating by a rookie in NFL history. His 4,108 passing yards rank third in NFL all-time lists among rookie quarterbacks while leading all rookies this past season in all major passing categories. Stroud finished the season with 4,557 total passing yards, including the postseason, which is the second-most ever by a rookie.
He also began his career with a record 192 consecutive pass attempts without an interception, the most ever by a player to begin a career. Stroud led the league in passing yards per game (273.9), while also pacing the NFL in touchdown-interception ratio (4.60), becoming just the third player in NFL history to finish first in both categories.
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com