5 Nosy Questions for Owen Daniels

Have you been following the Texans this season? They’re 3-0, and as our friend Eric Sandler over at EaterHouston observed, “When the Texans are winning, it just makes Monday morning so much better.”

As if games, practice, press conferences and travel don’t keep the Texan players busy enough, they also served dinner to some very lucky guests last night at Del Frisco’s. Tight end Owen Daniels and a few of his teammates (including Arian Foster, Connor Barwin, James Casey, Shaun Cody, Brian Cushing, Garrett Graham, Andre Johnson, Chris Myers, Matt Schaub, Ben Tate, Kevin Walter and  J.J. Watt) traded in their jerseys for waiter’s aprons and served a four-course dinner to guests who eagerly waited to bid on some very exclusive silent auction items.

Why the sudden change in careers? The NFL players were supporting their teammate Owen Daniels in raising funds for his nonprofit organization, the Catching Dreams foundation. Catching Dreams has a program called Owen’s Locker that focuses on providing chronically ill children and their families with computers, video games, DVD players and DVDs at Texas Children’s Hospital and Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital. The evening of dinner and celebrity waiters was tied together in order to continue to build the program to support more families.

I had a chance to ask Owen a few questions and as usual, got a bit nosy.

What is your ideal comfort food? Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. I grew up in Chicago, and it is really cold there. So as a kid, grilled cheese and tomato soup was a staple. On that note, would you rather play in the sweltering Houston heat or the Chicago cold? That’s tough. If you mean pick between 100 degrees and 0 degrees, I’d have to say the Houston heat, because when the temperature is below 30*, everything is frozen. You’re frozen, the ground is frozen, it is really tough. If it is above 30 * I do okay.

After the Texans win a home game, where do you celebrate for dinner? Do you go out or stay in? Well, I live around the corner, so I actually eat here at Del Frisco’s pretty often. When I have family in town, we’ll come have dinner. Sometimes you’re really tired and just want to decompress, so friends and family will come over to my house and we’ll hang out on the couch, watch the late game and just eat at home.

If you had to choose one, would you pick beer, cocktails or wine? Well I can tell you I can’t pick just one, I like all three. But I drink Crown Royal Cask 16.

Everyone has that one thing they just can’t stand to eat. What is your least favorite food? I’m not a picky eater. But I’d have to say cauliflower. I stay away from that.

I have to ask about your game day ritual — what do you eat before a game? Most of our games are at noon, so I eat a big breakfast on game days. Regular breakfast things like eggs and toast. But I’ve also done a steak and pasta. Last year I started eating chicken and waffles, I love chicken and waffles.