Houston Texans wide receiver Tank Dell has finally opened up about the scary incident that got him shot during a party last April. Dell is okay now and has even practiced with his team at the OTAs, but the memory of that harrowing ordeal is still clear to him.
“First off, I'm blessed, you know. To me, it was just wrong place, wrong time,” Dell said during a recent appearance on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast along with teammate and Houston quarterback CJ Stroud (h/t ESPN).
“I went back to see my mom, I wasn't even planning to go to the little pool party or whatever, but my boys saw that I was home, so they hit me up and was like ‘pull up to the party.' They told me there was going to be security, people getting checked at the door, stuff like that. So, I'm like, ‘All right, cool.' It's a good vibe, and there was a lot of people that I know in there, so it was cool.”
Dell also shared how quickly things developed, as he heard shots going off.
“And then that s— just popped off out of nowhere. It just went south out of nowhere,” Dell added.
Stroud revealed his emotional reaction when he learned that his teammate got shot. Not knowing the clear status of Dell at that time, Stroud said that he just started crying when he heard the news.
“All I read was ‘Tank got shot' and I just dropped my phone, I start tearing up man. You know, when you hear that, you start thinking the worse,” said Stroud, who was then at game between the Philadelphia 76ers and the New York Knicks in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.
Fortunately for Dell, he was not seriously hurt, and he is still able to continue his football career in the NFL. The suspect was later revealed to be a minor who was charged with attempted homicide.
Texans' Tank Dell, a promising CJ Stroud weapon
With the shooting incident now behind him, Dell is looking to get better on the field as part of the Texans' dangerous passing attack. In the 2023 NFL regular season, Dell's rookie campaign in the pros, the Texans ranked 13th in the league with 22.7 points per game. Houston was a constant threat through the air, thanks in large part to Stroud's quarterbacking. The Texans were 12th in pass play percentage (59.11%) but were fifth with 7.2 passing yards per pass and eighth with 243.6 passing yards per game.
Dell had a solid start to his time in the NFL, as he racked up a total of 709 receiving yards and seven touchdowns on 47 receptions and 75 targets through 11 games with the Texans. He likely would have reached the 1,000-yard mark in his rookie season if it wasn't for a campaign-ending leg injury that he suffered in a Week 13 matchup versus the Denver Broncos.
Taken in the third round (69th overall) by the Texans in the 2023 NFL Draft, Dell is poised to have a fantastic sophomore year. With Stroud expected to take a step forward in his development as an NFL signal-caller and alongside quality offensive weapons in the likes of Stefon Diggs, John Metchie III, and Nico Collins to name a few, Dell can be viewed as a potential Year 2 breakout candidate.
Follow Us
Subscribe
