Football is an American phenomenon, and Texas fans have long 
embraced the sport with unrivaled fervor. In 2002, when a new 
professional football team hit the Lone Star State, the Museum of 
Fine Arts, Houston, recognized a unique opportunity to record 
history in the making. Although millions of photographs of football 
exist, the first year of an NFL team has never been captured.

    The museum and the Houston TEXANS have collaborated to 
document the team’s first season. From the NFL players’ draft to 
the TEXANS’ opening day to the final game of the Houston team’s 
inaugural year, both the quiet and the frenetic rhythms of a major-
league football enterprise are vividly charted.

    More than just a strict chronicle, First Down, Houston reveals
every angle of the team that was founded by Robert C. McNair and
has won the hearts of Texas football fans. Award-winning
photographer Robert Clark (Friday Night Lights) was granted
unprecedented access to the team. He took action shots and players’
portraits; shot views of training camp and weight-room sessions; and
produced memorable images of the players and their families outside of
the public’s intense gaze. He also photographed Mr. and Mrs. McNair,
the coaches, and other staff members that are part of the business of 
professional football. Seen together, the 219 photographs provide a 
penetrating and intimate look into the world of the Houston TEXANS.

    This book is being produced in conjunction with an exhibition of 
the same name to be held at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 
from September 21 through February 8, 2004. Both the book and 
exhibition pay tribute to the football team that has taken Texas by 
storm.

_________________________________________________________

ANNE WILKES TUCKER is the Gus and Lyndall Wortham Curator 
of Photography at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, where she 
has organized nearly forty major photography exhibitions. MICKEY
HERSKOWITZ is an award-winning  sportswriter and columnist for the 
Houston Chronicle.


Distributed for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston


What people are saying about this book

". . . a wonderful souvenir for football enthusiasts, especially those in 
Houston. It is a coffee-table book in the very best sense of the word."
—Review of Texas Books, Spring 2005