Texans Pro Bowl quarterback C.J. Stroud did his part in the NBA celebrity all-star game Friday night in Indianapolis.
Stroud scored 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds in a 100-91 loss as Dallas Cowboys Pro Bowl pass rusher Micah Parsons backed up his words with a game-high 37 points and 16 rebounds for the winning squad at Lucas Oil Stadium.
In Stroud’s previous athletic performance at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Indianapolis Colts, he punched the Texans’ ticket to the playoffs as he completed 20 of 26 passes for 264 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins.
Stroud was named the game MVP in Travis Scott’s celebrity softball classic Thursday night at Minute Maid Park as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year hit a home run and a double after hitting seven home runs in the home run derby before the game.
Sroud and Parsons had exchanged good-natured barbs during an appearance on Parsons’ podcast about who would dominate during the matchup.
“I’m not going to be doing too much, because Micah is going to try to kill me so I’m going to try to get my rhythm going, get my jump shot going a little bit, just have some fun,” Stroud said before the game. “Nothing serious.”
Both NFL standouts had their moments, but Parsons had more, including some slam dunks, and four steals.
“I told yall ima automatic double double!!” Parsons wrote on social media.
Stroud was a high school basketball standout growing up in Rancho Cucamonga, California.
Coaches said he could have been a Division I basketball player, but concentrated on football.
He was a two-time Heisman Trophy finalist for the Ohio State Buckeyes before being drafted second overall by the Texans and leading them to the AFC South division title.
Stroud, 22, became the youngest quarterback to win an NFL playoff game, surpassing Michael Vick.
He finished his rookie season with 4,557 yards, including the playoffs, to finish second in NFL history for a rookie quarterback behind Andrew Luck’s 4,662 yards in 2012.
Stroud joined Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only NFL quarterbacks to lead the league in passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interceptions ratio in a single season.
NOTE: The Texans signed defensive end Marcus Haynes to a reserve-future deal.
Aaron Wilson is a contributor to Sports Talk 790.
Photo: Stacy Revere / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images