On the morning of Round 1 of the 2019 NFL draft Thursday, Alabama State offensive tackle Tytus Howard tweeted out an image of himself and a message.
The message was, “All I can tell you is that if you put me in a cage with a Gorilla, PRAY for the Gorilla🦍🦍 BET ON ME🤧 #NFLdraft”
After the Houston Texans selected Howard with the 23rd overall pick, the former Alabama State offensive lineman explained what the tweet meant.
“There was a saying that one of my offensive line coaches used to say, his mentality is you put him in a cage with a gorilla, you better pray for the gorilla, not him because he’s going to be all right,” Howard said. “That’s just how I feel. You just put me in a cage with anybody and I feel like I’m going to come out. That’s my mentality going in.”
Howard won’t have to play in any cages in 2019, nor will he have to face any gorillas. However, he will be tested by a slew of pass-rushers on the schedule from Kansas City’s Frank Clark, Denver’s Von Miller, New Orleans’ Cameron Wake, and Oakland’s Clelin Ferrell.
