ESPN REPORT: Texans Lose A Mega-Star To Ravens….

The safety position for the Houston Texans battled injuries last season. Jimmie Ward missed seven regular season games and the playoffs with a hip, hamstring, concussion, and a strained quadriceps. Eric Murray missed 11 regular season games and the playoffs with a meniscus injury. Finally, M.J. Stewart missed nine regular season games and the playoffs with a shoulder injury.

The Texans drafted a safety in the 3rd round, hoping to stabilize their depth.

Bullock committed to the Trojans as a four-star recruit for the 2021 season. He would have a great career with the team, playing 38 games and starting 32, with 151 tackles, nine interceptions, two pick-sixes, and 15 pass deflections.

Bullock played 12 games, starting 12 in 2023, with 63 tackles, two interceptions, one pick-six, seven pass deflections, and a 71.5 PFF Grade. He allowed 26 receptions on 44 targets for 282 yards, five touchdowns, and a 97.0 passer rating. He had an 82.2 coverage grade, a 49.0 run defense grade, and a 15.9% forced incompletion rate per PFF. The Pac-12 named him to their All-Pac-12 First Team.

“Long and athletic with a series of feast-or-famine plays all over the tape. Bullock can be scary good in coverage and scary bad as a run defender.

“He has the range to play single-high safety, the athleticism to line up over the slot and the ball skills to chalk up impressive on-ball production. As a run defender, Bullock’s poor recognition, missed run fits and bad angles to the football cost his team chunk plays and touchdowns.

“He won’t always see or process the game clearly, but the athleticism and playmaking talent are hard to overlook. He’s young and talented, and if he runs well enough, there might be a team more interested in his skill set as a cornerback than as a boom/bust safety.”

Calen Bullock will likely sit behind Jimmie Ward for at least one season and might start in 2025

“Muslim advocacy group sues Abbott, saying university executive order violates free speech” was first published by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

A national Muslim advocacy group is suing Gov. Greg Abbott for singling out pro-Palestinian student groups and critics of Israel on Texas college campuses over his March executive order that aims to take stricter action against acts of antisemitism.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations argues that Abbott’s order violates the First Amendment and falsely equates advocacy for Palestinian liberation – through slogans like “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be Free” – to antisemitism. The organization is filing the lawsuit on behalf of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Houston, Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Texas at Dallas, and the Democratic Socialists of America.

The executive order, which Abbott signed in March, directs Texas universities to “review and update free speech policies to address the sharp rise in antisemitic speech” and names expulsion as an “appropriate punishment” for violating such policies. It specifically names the Palestine Solidarity Committee and Students for Justice in Palestine as groups he believes have violated policies and should be subject to discipline.

“Texas supports free speech, especially on university campuses, but that freedom comes with responsibilities for both students and the institutions themselves; and such speech can never incite violence, encourage people to violate the law, harass other students or other Texans, or disrupt the core educational purpose of a university,” the executive order states.

The executive order came as tensions over the war between Israel and Gaza were heating up on college campuses, and nearly a month prior to the crackdown on University of Texas at Austin protests, where demonstrators attempting to build encampments on campus were forced out by police in riot gear and horses. More than 100 people were arrested. Two protestors were arrested at University of Texas Houston, and 21 protestors were arrested at the University of Texas at Dallas.

“Our community has a long history of opposing unjust policies that specifically target pro-Palestinian voices and we fully intend to keep that winning history in place with this legal challenge,” William White, director of CAIR-Houston, said in a press release.