T.J. Houshmandzadeh - More Self Promotion

This is from T.J.'s own column... Ugh

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Cold no problem for SoCal native

Former Oregon State receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh, now in his fourth year with the Cincinnati Bengals, writes a weekly column on life in the NFL. Today he writes about playing in cold weather.

I am a guy who grew up in Southern California and cold weather to me growing up was 50 degrees. I encountered a little cold weather at night games in Corvallis but nothing compares to my first game in cold weather my rookie season as a Bengal.

I remember the situation very vividly. It was the week after Thanksgiving and we were playing Baltimore. The night before I watched the local weather and the forecast called for a high of 15 degrees.

When I got to Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday morning the wind was whipping off the river and it was cold. I got dressed and instead of putting on a turtleneck or the synthetic tights, I went sleeveless and went out for warm-ups.

I was cold but it wasn't unbearable. I had practiced in the cold weather and that actually is worse than playing in cold weather. In the games, you're moving around, you've got gloves on, and I use the hand warmer attached around my waist.

Plus, when the defense is on the field, offensive players can wear the heavy jackets and sit on the heated benches.

I actually like playing in the cold weather. Since I got here to Cincinnati, I'm used to the cold weather and now I only wear a winter coat when it gets below 20 degrees.

I know it is crazy but it is true. Plus, when the weather gets really cold it is an advantage for us when we play warm-weather teams at home. But it is not as much of an advantage as one might think.

Every team has guys who played college ball in the Midwest or East Coast and they're used to getting it on when the weather gets cold. So, it is not like they've never played in freezing conditions before.

What is an advantage for the home field is how the field reacts to the freezing conditions.

Some of the stadiums where we play the turf is heated below the surface while other surfaces are not. I know how our turf is when it gets cold, and I'd love to tell everybody how it is, but if I do my advantage over defensive backs is gone.

Let's just say that every field reacts differently to the cold weather.

So, the next time you're watching a game and the temperature is single digits, don't feel sorry for the players. Heck, most of them are really enjoying the weather.

I know I would.

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Maybe T.J. thought that his QB would be able to throw in the cold, or that the RB could hold on to the ball. Or maybe he didn't think that Buffalo could handle the cold even better. Whatever he was thinking was wrong!

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