Houston Texans Sign Matt Leinart, Tell Football World "We Exist Too"

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The Houston Texans came into the NFL knowing that they were going to be the less loved little brothers of the Dallas Cowboys. How could they not?

The Cowboys are "America's Team" (regardless of what Maurice Jones-Drew says) and they get love by every native Texan as well as everybody who was put on the spot and asked to name a favorite football team.

Who's going to care about some team trying to make a splash in Texas when you can root for the Dallas Cowboys, especially when you never know who you are going to see there (like Tony Romo's latest celeb date).

It seems no matter what the Texans do, the Cowboys have a flashier version that might not be better football-wise, but will still get people's attention.

Who cares about former Atlanta Falcons back-up Matt Schaub when you can look at Romo's personal life, plus there's always that fumble to look back at and laugh about.

The Texans tried to make some noise when Steve Slaton had a big rookie year and looked to become a big time playmaker, then he faded into the background while the Cowboys bring the excitement with Felix Jones and the power with Marion Barber. Hell, Tashard Choice gets more love then the Texans RB's.

Even with Andre Johnson, arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL, the Cowboys get more coverage with Miles Austin, Dez Bryant and Roy Williams (side note, what are the odds that Williams stays on the Cowboys roster until a new guy named Roy Williams joins the NFL that they can sign).

So now, with the regular season gearing up to start, the Texans are stuck in the position of trying to get any sort of TV time to let people know that they are also a football team and actually pretty good.

The only problem, how can you get some people to recognize you without any big name out there to gobble up?  Easy, sign a guy who has never been a consistent starter and just got released after losing a training camp battle to Derek Anderson.

Doesn't sound too exciting until you realize that the person I was talking about was a former 10th overall pick in the NFL Draft, former USC Trojan, and all-around pretty boy Matt Leinart.

They tried this model a few years back with Rex Grossman, thinking that a guy who was once a Heisman candidate, started at Florida, and "led" a team to the Super Bowl would get people's attention, then they realized nobody really cared about Grossman because he didn't have that "wow factor."

They also tried to make a splash when they drafted "Super" Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush, but that was before they realized that even if they make a great decision and draft one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL, he still doesn't get as much marketability as a running back who splits carries and dates Kim Kardashian.

Leinart has that "wow factor," just look at these scandalous pictures, he is the one of the few people with the celeb power and intrigue that can make people forget about Romo for at least second.

This obviously isn't a move to improve the football team, as Leinart clearly isn't starting material (ask Derek Anderson), but a move to improve marketability of the Texans as a team.

Now Leinart just has to take some more shots with underage girls in bikinis to get people talking about the Texans more.

I'm Joe W.