Has CJ Stroud Earned an Big Extension from the Houston Texans Yet?

CJ Stroud has made the playoffs and won a playoff game in each of his three seasons, which means a new contract conversation is coming. Asked about it, the Houston quarterback played it cool, saying he will let his agent handle the timing and keep his focus on football. He believes he has held up his end of the bargain, and he is excited to be a Texan this year.

That answer, though, is not what hijacked the segment. The real story became Stroud's haircut, and TJ has a whole theory about it. He does not like when athletes cut the hair they are known for, because in his telling it drains their powers. He ran down the evidence: Allen Iverson cut his hair and the powers were gone, Carmelo Anthony the same in his first year, plus a list of musicians from Trey Songz to Ludacris to Bow Wow. It is the Samson principle, TJ insisted, and the powers take a while to come back.

The football case lined up a little too neatly. TJ pointed out that Stroud did not play well last season, the year he cut his hair. The first couple of years had everyone riding high, then came a step back, capped by a rough playoff loss to the Patriots. Maybe, the room joked, the hair was the difference.

Still, TJ is bullish on Houston. He warned the Texans are going to be a problem this year behind a scary defense, with David Montgomery added to the backfield. If the Knicks could make their run, he reasoned, why not Houston, because with a defense like that, anything is possible.

The bit eventually turned on TJ himself. Having locked his hair in 1999, he got pressed on whether his Clippers or Sixers have ever won a title with it. The answer, of course, was no. The suggestion that he cut it to flip his teams' luck went nowhere. He has heard the verdict on those franchises already, and he is not parting with the hair for them.