Election a Moving Experience for Ryans

Nearly 24 hours after taking his 8-year-old sister into the voting booth with him to cast his first-ever vote in an election, Amobi Okoye said he still had a feeling inside that he couldn’t quite describe. When DeMeco Ryans talked about the right to vote and the results of the 2008 presidential election, tears welled up in his eyes. Andre Johnson almost laughed when he thought about a daydreaming moment a few days ago, when he imagined this election igniting a celebration among Martin Luther King Jr. and other deceased Americans who thought “a change is gonna come” decades ago. Typically, politics and an NFL locker room don’t mix. This isn’t about politics. It’s about history. America chose Barack Obama, a person of African descent, to be its next president — a victory more meaningful than any football game. And many of the Texans joined in the tears, cheers and spontaneous celebrations seen around the country. “It’s big for us all, not just African-Americans,” Ryans said Wednesday after practice. “Overall as a nation, to see how far we’ve come … it’s just huge.” READ MORE