(SportsRadio 610) -- When the Seattle Seahawks cut center Justin Britt after six seasons with the team, he felt unwanted.
He'd given so much time and effort. He'd torn his ACL for the second time in his career. Then Seattle released its former second-round pick last offseason.
Britt spent the entire 2020 season as a free agent, which gave him time to adequately recover from the injury and return as healthy as possible.
His third child, a daughter, was born last August while the pandemic placed uncertainty around sports and skepticism about the upcoming NFL season.
Britt used that time to experience having a newborn, but started to really itch for competition sitting at home watching football in the winter.
In Houston, Britt gets the opportunity to replace Nick Martin as the starting center for an offense that struggled to run the ball effectively last year.
The Texans' rushing attack was the least efficient in the NFL, while Deshaun Watson became the league's passing leader.
Only the Jacksonville Jaguars ran the ball fewer times and only the Pittsburgh Steelers ran it for fewer yards than the Texans.
"There's a reason they brought me here," Britt said. "I'm going to bring an attitude, an aggressiveness. I'm going to play smart at the same time. I just want to play football and I know how, and I can make sure we're on the same page. I understand my job at center. I understand the job that the right tackle has and the left tackle, so I'm just ready to get going. I'm just ready to get out there and compete and show them and get the ball running. I want to run the ball."
When asked how much improving the running game was a topic in his discussions with the Texans before signing, and how much it's been emphasized early in the offseason, Britt indicated it's something he's discussed with new offensive line coach James Campen.
"We were just kind of on the same mission," Britt said. "We wanted to come in and start up front and set the tone with the run game and build off that with the pass game. I did know that they led the league in passing yards last year or something. You can pass all you want, but a really good pass game comes with the run game. Up in Seattle we ran the ball and Russ (Wilson) did his thing. You can have a little of both.
"I think the guys we have up front are all kind of tough, mean guys and they want to run the ball and be aggressive as big guys do. You bring in guys like Mark Ingram (II), Phillip Lindsay, D.J. (David Johnson) who's still here. You've got people who can do it and you just have to put it all together. It doesn't matter what happened last year. This is a whole new team. They've got 30 new guys. It's what are you going to do now? We're hungry and ready to go out there and see what we can do."
