The seventh round of the NFL Draft tends to be a shot in the dark. Teams will take a special teamer, an athletic but raw prospect or a high-character athlete in hoping they stick on the roster.
In the Houston Texans’ case in 2019, they found fullback Cullen Gillaspia. The first 12th Man drafted in Texas A&M history, the 24-year-old Katy native is a core special teamer that plays like his long blonde locks are on fire.
“He does a good job,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said on Monday. “He takes a lot of pride in his role on special teams. That’s the primary reason why he was drafted. I mean, drafted, like, seventh round. Like, kind of drafted, I guess. He takes a lot of pride in that role.”
Gillaspia walked on to Texas A&M. He later converted from linebacker to fullback, earned a scholarship, won the honorable title of the 12th Man and found himself in the NFL playing for the team he grew up watching.
“Obviously, he was the 12th Man at A&M, he’s a Houston guy, he’s from Katy,” O’Brien said. “He loves it and he works real hard.”
On Sunday, in a Texans 24-21 win over the Tennessee Titans, Gillaspia tallied a key special teams tackle, his sixth of the season. “He made a really nice play on that,” O’Brien said. “Very physical play and did a nice job on that play he made.”
In the same game, Gillaspia paved a lane for a 31-yard DeAndre Carter kick return.
The Aggie and Katy Taylor product may not be a key contributor on offense. He has only seen 13 offense snaps and none since Week 8. However, he’s played in every single game as a rookie in a special teams role, recording 238 snaps in the third team, which is good value for a seventh-round selection.