For the past few years, the city of Houston has been craving a sports team that would give them something to cheer about. With the Astros finishing with the worst record in Major League Baseball for two consecutive years and the Rockets missing the playoffs for the third year in a row, the burden seems to have fallen on the Texans to provide Houstonians with a winning team.

The Texans have done their best not to disappoint, as they not only made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history last year, but also prevailed in their first playoff game. With their continued success at the start of the 2012 season, the Texans’ fan base is growing larger than ever.

“Everybody’s come together as one,” junior Tyler Calhoun said. “The Astros are horrible and the Rockets are doing pretty good, but the Texans are the number one Houston team.”

The city has a newfound joy for its football team, and with that comes new fans. However, people such as senior Rudy Aguirre are beginning to think that some fans are just around for the time being.

“A bunch of fans you never knew were fans started watching the games,” Aguirre said. “People started jumping on the bandwagon.”

About 220 miles up Interstate 45, the Texans in-state rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, have had an inconsistent start to their season. Their recent decline and the Texans accent towards the top of the league may cause more Cowboys fans to change their loyalties between the two teams.

“The Cowboys have always been around and they have always been good, but the Texans have just started getting their ranks up,” Calhoun said. “It’s been a while since the Cowboys were relevant. Now they’re just known for their cheerleaders.”

Tyler Kelley, a senior who is typically a die-hard fan of America’s most popular team, said he and his family have begun taking note of the Texans’ success.

“We watch them every Sunday all together,” Kelley said. “I really do hope they win this year, because they had been horrible for years, and eventually people get tired of rooting for a horrible team.”

Kelley also alluded to the fact that the city’s economy with continue to grow if the football team continues to win.

“More people are going to games, which allow the stadiums to make more money,” Kelley said. “With all the sports bars and restaurants surrounding it also making more money, improves the city altogether.”

As the Texans continue to ascend towards the top of the NFL, the fan base will continue to expand. It will consist of new fans that have just started watching them in 2012 and old ones who have been watching since 2002. Regardless the length of their allegiance to the team, true Texans fans will continue to stick by them through thick and then.

“That’s my hometown team,” Aguirre said. “I will always love them.”