During the 2006, 2007 and 2008 seasons, the Houston Texans had two players who had been Jess Lanier High School Purple Tigers on their way to the NFL.
DeMeco Ryans is now the head coach of the NFL team. On Wednesday, the former Alabama All-American will attend the funeral in Bessemer of his hometown teammate.
An All-SWAC defensive end at Alabama State, Earl Cochran died on Oct. 31 at age 44.
Before their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium on Sunday, the Texans had a moment of silence for Cochran, then scored the contest’s final 26 points in the fourth quarter to defeat the Jaguars 36-29.
“I’m just thankful for finding a way to win this game,” Ryans said at his postgame press conference, “especially coming in with a heavy heart. Lost my best friend Earl Cochran, so I know he’s smiling down on us right now. He would be very proud.”
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After the game, Texans general manager Nick Caserio presented Ryans, whom he called the “best leader and the best coach we have in the league,” with a game ball.
“We had a moment of silence for Earl Cochran before the game,” Caserio told the Houston players in the locker room. “Earl was a massive part of DeMeco’s life, OK? So he’s got a heavy heart, all right? He’s been thinking about it, it’s been weighing on him, but he went out there and he fought and he led like he always does because he loves this team.”
Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair said Ryans had talked to the team about Cochran on Saturday night.
“He talked about losing his best friend, former player here, and he carried that on his shoulders since last Friday and didn’t say anything until last night,” Al-Shaair told reporters in the locker room after Sunday’s game. “So it was just all of us collectively, just having a lot of emotion, excited, happy for him, happy for the organization.”
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While Cochran was three years older than Ryans, they made their NFL debuts with the Texans in 2006. Ryans won The Associated Press NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Award to kick off his 10-year career as an NFL linebacker. Cochran worked his way from the practice squad to make his first NFL regular-season appearance in Houston’s final game.
“Just a standup guy,” Ryans said. “Close friend. I mean, loving, caring, big heart, give the shirt off his back to anybody like he was — just treated people the right way, loved people. Always had a big smile, big heart. Very wise, so I’m just thankful to have had him as a friend here.”
Cochran’s funeral is scheduled for noon CST Wednesday at New Life Interfaith Ministries in Bessemer with interment to follow at Elmwood Cemetery and Mausoleum in Birmingham.
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Cochran signed with the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted rookie in 2003. But he sustained a shoulder injury in the preseason and spent the season on injured reserve.
Green Bay released Cochran before the 2024 season, and his next football came with NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals in 2005. Later that year, Cochran returned to the NFL in the Minnesota Vikings’ training camp and spent a brief stint on the team’s practice squad.
Back with Amsterdam in 2006, Cochran helped the Admirals reach World Bowl XIV as a starting defensive end, and that led to a contract with the Texans.
Released after the preseason, Cochran later joined Houston’s practice squad before reaching the active roster. After his debut in 2006, Cochran played in 15 games in 2007 and eight games in 2008 for the Texans to complete his NFL career.