Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien was able to partake in one of the Green Bay Packers’ training camp traditions, but with a special twist that hit close to home for the sixth-year coach.
O’Brien peddled an 18-year-old special needs boy named Raymond, who wore a red No. 99 J.J. Watt jersey over his Packers jersey, in a bicycle that also had a wheelchair component to carry the boy. O’Brien had reservations about riding the contraption at first due to fears he would tip it over, but did so at the behest of Texans vice president of communications, Amy Palcic.
“I wanted to do it, but I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if this thing is going to’ — my balance wasn’t great but it worked out all right,” O’Brien told reporters Tuesday after practice. “It was fun to do that. That was a cool moment for me.”
After O’Brien drove Raymond, he stepped off and introduced himself, telling Raymond that he also has a special needs son named Jack, who lives with lissencephaly, a neurological disorder.
“He reminded me of my son, Jack,” said O’Brien. “My son Jack will turn 17 here in a couple weeks. He had a great bike with a wheelchair setup on the front of it, stroller-type setup. I was worried I was going to crash the bike, and his Mom said I’d be fine so she let me do it. It was just as cool for me as it was for him.”
The tradition to ride bikes ahead of each training camp practice was started by Packers legendary coach Vince Lombardi, and O’Brien was thankful to be a part of “football history.”
“You’re driving that bike through the crowd,” O’Brien said. “That’s a great tradition that they have here. [Packers president] Mark Murphy told me before practice that Vince Lombardi started that tradition here. I think that’s pretty cool for our players to experience that.
“This is football history here in Green Bay and we feel fortunate to be able to come up here and practice against these guys.”
