Houston Texans’ Jadeveon Clowney focused on football ahead of homecoming

Houston Texans outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney’s social media alerts started buzzing shortly after a Week 1 loss to Kansas City.

Friends, family members and acquaintances from Clowney’s hometown of Rock Hill wanted tickets for his Week 2 homecoming game in Charlotte.

But one person Clowney hasn’t heard from is his father, who’s been held at the York County Detention Center without bond following an Aug. 4 shooting at a Rock Hill strip club.

David Morgan, 45, faces two counts of attempted murder and weapons charges after he allegedly shot at a night club employee after being removed from the stage. Morgan, a convicted felon known as “Chilli Bean,” was shot when the club employee returned fire.

Clowney said Wednesday he hasn’t spoken to his father since the incident, adding he’s focused on his responsibilities with the Texans after an injury-shortened rookie season.

But Clowney says it hurt to hear about his father’s arrest, which occurred while the Texans were at training camp.

“Of course I was disappointed (and) sad for him because that’s my dad, for one, and you don’t want nothing like that to happen to nobody in your family,” Clowney said during a conference call. “He’s in the situation. There’s nothing I can do about it. I’ve just got to keep doing what I can do, take care of what I can take of.”

Clowney was raised by a single mother while Morgan served 12 years in prison in South Carolina on a series of felony charges, mostly burglary related. Morgan was released from prison while Clowney was becoming one of the nation’s top high school recruits at South Pointe.

He wound up choosing South Carolina over Alabama and Clemson. Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier said Morgan drove Clowney to Columbia for his recruiting visit.

Clowney was a dominant defensive force at South Carolina, breaking the school record with nine forced fumbles and finishing with 24 sacks and 47 tackles for loss. His explosive first step and big hits made him a weekly highlight machine.

Clowney missed two games as a junior in 2013, benching himself for a game against Kentucky because of sore ribs after he’d been announced as a starter.

“He had some little nagging injuries and he didn’t want to take any chance, I guess. But the final analysis is the three years he was here, we went 11-2 every year and finished in the top 10. So Jadeveon, he’s a big reason for that,” Spurrier said in a phone interview. “I know he missed a few games here and there. But he’s got to be the winningest three-year player in Gamecock history.”

Clowney battled through injuries last year after the Texans drafted him No. 1 overall.

He tore the meniscus in his knee during their season opener and underwent arthroscopic surgery the following day. He played in just three more games, compiling a total of seven tackles, before undergoing microfracture surgery on the knee.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien said he had no concerns with how Clowney approached his rehab during the offseason.

“This guy’s working hard. This guy has worked hard to come back from his injury. He’s been out on the practice field since Aug. 17. He’s practiced every day that we’ve practiced, knock on wood,” O’Brien said. “Hopefully that continues. I thought he showed flashes last week of what we expect him to be.”

The Texans eased Clowney back into the rotation against the Chiefs. He played 30 of a possible 70 defensive snaps and had four tackles, including one for loss.

O’Brien said the plan is to play Clowney more against the Panthers.

“He had a very unlucky first year and we’re really glad that he’s worked his way back to where he is now, and hopefully he stays healthy and it continues,” O’Brien said. “Because I think the guy can be a really, really good player.”

Clowney says he’s learned a lot playing with Texans defensive end J.J. Watt, the only player in NFL history with two seasons of at least 20 sacks. Although Watt plays inside more than Clowney, he says their M.O. is the same.

“We just try to get to the quarterback,” Clowney said. “Both of us try to get pressure and make plays for the team, and put our team in good situations to win games.”

Clowney’s recovery was a minor storyline on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series, which featured a behind-the-scenes look at the Texans’ training camp.

But Clowney, considering his relatively high profile, wasn’t featured all that much on the show. He said that was by design.

“It was different because you’ve got cameras following you around. You don’t want to say the wrong things. You don’t want to get caught doing the wrong thing. I had to get used to it,” he said. “I was telling (HBO staff), ‘Don’t try to get me on there as much.’ I stayed off of it as much as I could. I wasn’t really into the ‘Hard Knocks’ thing. It was mostly other guys.”

Clowney will be more comfortable Sunday playing in front of about 40 family members and friends, many of whom continue to hound him for tickets.

“It’s still going on,” he said. “People hitting me up (on) Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, everything.”

Clowney plans to go to dinner with family Saturday night, but he made no mention of trying to get in touch with his father.

“It hasn’t been a big deal to me, really, because I feel like it’s going to take care of itself,” he said.

O’Brien said he hasn’t spoken to Clowney much about the situation, but hasn’t seen any change in Clowney’s approach since Morgan’s arrest.

“He’s been very focused on football here,” O’Brien said. “I know he really cares about the people back home, especially his family. He takes a lot of pride in where he’s from.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 5:44 PM with the headline "Houston Texans’ Jadeveon Clowney focused on football ahead of homecoming."