Houston floods move Cowboys-Texans game to Arlington

The NFL has moved Thursday’s scheduled preseason game between the Houston Texans and the Dallas Cowboys to AT&T Stadium in Arlington from NRG Stadium because of the historic flooding in Houston associated with Hurricane Harvey.

The game was originally scheduled to be played in Houston at 7 p.m. Kickoff on Thursday will remain at 7 p.m. Details on tickets, parking and other game-day logistics will be announced later.

The NFL and the Texans will continue to closely monitor the situation in Houston and adjust the team’s plans as necessary.

The Texans are already in North Texas as they had their plane from New Orleans after Saturday’s game against the Saints diverted to the area because the airports in Houston were closed.

The Texans practiced at the Cowboys’ headquarters at The Star in Frisco on Monday and plan to do so again on Tuesday.

The Texans will play in the game because they are professionally obligated to do so, but they wouldn’t have been opposed to canceling it considering their focus, thoughts and prayers are with their families and the people in Houston being displaced by the floods.

“I think there are much bigger things at hand, absolutely,” Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said after Monday’s practice at The Star when asked if the NFL should cancel the game. “I think that the most important thing right now is family and friends and the city of Houston back home, making sure they’re safe, making sure they’re taken care of it.

“If there is something played this week, I think we should definitely involve some sort of fundraiser, some sort of way to benefit the people back home, because I think this is a much bigger issue than just a football game.”

The Texans will likely stay in North Texas until after Thursday’s game. They have already had to switch hotels once and could do so again.

The team expressed sorrow and helplessness of not being able to help friends and family in Houston.

“It’s tough. It’s tough,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “It’s tough not to be there. We have players that are dealing with water in their homes. We have three coaches that are in neighborhoods where there’s mandatory evacuations, a couple of coaches where there are voluntary evacuations. Players, the same thing. Trying to do the best we can to keep everybody together.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2017 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Houston floods move Cowboys-Texans game to Arlington."