HOUSTON – High above the baseball diamond at Daikin Park, home of the Houston Astros, Texans wide receiver Robert Woods teed up a golf ball before taking a mighty swing that nearly ricocheted off the roof.
Instead, Woods’ shot found its intended path to the green that lit up when it rolled toward the hole.
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“Super fun experience,” Woods said after participating in an Upper Deck Golf event along with teammate Xavier Hutchinson in partnership with PXG clubs and apparel. “Been here for an Astros game and I feel like it’s a beautiful stadium. Being able to be here and golfing and play at a different level, listen to good music, be with good people, I feel like it’s a good experience. It was a lot of fun.”
Fun is the operative word for Woods, 32, after completing his 12th NFL season and winning his second AFC South division title. Woods caught 20 passes for 203 yards in 15 games and four starts last season. A former Buffalo Bills second-round draft pick from USC who has caught 683 career passes for 8,233 yards and 38 touchdowns, including 60 passes for 629 yards and one touchdown for the Texans, is a pending unrestricted free agent whose two-year, $15.25 million contract is expiring as a pending unrestricted free agent.
He’s well-steeped in the Los Angeles Rams offense that new Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley is importing, in part, to Houston.
And Woods, who had consecutive 90-catch seasons for the Rams and one 1,219 yard, six-touchdown season in Los Angeles, is confident in what the influence of Sean McVay can mean for the Texans’ offense.
“I had a great time in the LA offense with Sean and everybody who was under him,” said Woods, who didn’t overlap with Caley with the Rams. “I know that offense is capable of being high-powered, whether it’s the running back, with the tight ends, with the receivers, everybody is able to just have a role in the offense and be able to be used to their best talents.
“I know that was my experience when I was in LA. Sean McVay moved me around a lot with motions and handoffs and passes, deep routes, intermediate and short. I feel like I was really just able to switch it up on offense. I think they can bring that to this offense, and it’s a lot of weapons on offense. You’ve gotta be able to let them go.”
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A round of @upperdeckgolf @pxg with #Texans wide receivers Robert Woods @robertwoods and Xavier Hutchinson @XBH__8 at Daikin Park as part of a growing sports concept at stadiums across the nation @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/eGtK2MkrWy
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) February 21, 2025
Woods dealt with some injuries last season, but is healthy now and recharged and ready for whatever is next for him and his growing family.
Ideally, he would like to be back with the Texans. It’s unclear how they’ll proceed, but Woods was a reliable player for the Texans, a strong downfield blocker and a great mentor in the locker room as the elder statesman of the receiving corps.
“Feeling good, kind of getting ready to revamp and go another year again,” Woods said. “Building the body back up, just like always and going into Year 13 and still just chasing it. I had a great time here in Houston, loved being with C.J. (Stroud), a great quarterback, loved our receiver room, our coaches. We’ll see how it goes in free agency. You know how free agency is. Whatever is best for me and my family and my football career. If that’s in Houston, however it goes, we’ll look to that.”
A novice golfer, Hutchinson got better with every hole played and showed off a lot of power and torque.
“He came a long way and had such a great time being out here golfing and hit it the hole a lot of times,” Woods said. “Made it light up and really grew from hole one to hole nine, put on a show for everybody.”
Hutchinson thoroughly enjoyed playing golf in this setting. He saw some parallels between football and golf in terms of the mental aspect of each sport.
“I got some great coaching and figured out that maybe I can make this my little second hobby,” Hutchinson said. “You really just gotta go with each swing. You just gotta keep swinging. You gotta learn from your mistakes and try to correct them. Definitely techniques, especially with the mentality and everything and the mental toughness, you gotta have some type of resiliency.”
#Texans wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson, new to golf, had fun @upperdeckgolf @pxg also excited about growth as a player, and learning Nick Caley playback @KPRC2 https://t.co/aZxKLXyGgl pic.twitter.com/oHzEVZijZh
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) February 21, 2025
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com.
