By Brian Argabright
The 830 Times
It’s been a wild and magical ride, but the football life is no more for Shane Creamer.
The University of Houston tight end, and Del Rio High School alumnus, Creamer said in an interview with the 830 Times Wednesday that Houston’s win over Auburn in this week’s TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl was the end of his career.
“I will not enter Houston’s pro day. My dream of playing football is over, but I enjoyed the memories. My time playing for Houston was more than enough and way more than I thought it would be,” Creamer said via telephone. “I’m more than happy with this decision. I couldn’t imagine beating an SEC team like that to end it, but it’s over for me. It was a great day, overall.”
After growing up in Comstock, which was less than two miles from his front porch, Creamer attended Del Rio High School because there were more opportunities to play sports as a Ram. He made the most of his time at Del Rio High, earning All-State honors as a tight end before graduating in 2017. He eventually decided to attend the University of Houston and was a preferred walk-on to the school’s football team.
Going from a key part of the Rams’ offense to another face in the crowd in Cougars program took a little getting used to for Creamer.
“It started off with some confusion and some getting used to. Going from Del Rio to a D-1 college program … I mean that transition is already hard enough. You have to deal with stuff mentally, like worrying about playing time and the competition and then the school stuff. It was rough at the beginning, but I kept my head down, kept working, stayed in the weight room, and I knew the playbook front and back,” Creamer said.
That hard work paid off as he went from preferred walk-on status to earning a scholarship. Then his role on the team began becoming more defined, and Creamer embraced the mindset of putting the “we before the me,” meaning that he would do whatever was needed to help his teammates succeed.
“I turned into a three-year starter on special teams. I got my fair share of offensive snaps. I became a bigger blocker in college versus a pass catcher in high school. Sometimes that’s a rough transition to get into it, but once got into the mindset of what was best for the team it really wasn’t that hard,” Creamer said. “We had some great players able to do great things once we were able to get them the ball, and I did my job in blocking on offense and special teams. Yeah you wish you were the guy catching passes and catching touchdowns, but being able to help your teammates succeed is a big deal, too.”
Creamer finished his collegiate career with a total of three catches for nine yards. He even had a short kick return in 2019. Through it all, though, Creamer said he was most proud of the response and the support he got from the people of Del Rio, especially from the Rams football players who followed him.
“Del Rio is definitely the battlefield where it all started. It was not only the players and the coaches I spent time with, but the town and the people that supported me while I was there, and now while I was here,” Creamer said. “I always had kids in Del Rio (direct messaging) me and letting me know how proud they are of me. That always makes me smile, and it’s one of the big reasons there was such a drive in me to succeed. Achieving what I did at Houston says to me that even though Del Rio is kind of a way out there, we can do it just as well as other people in big cities. When a kid says that they want to follow in my footsteps, I know there’s a little sliver of hope for him that he will succeed.”
Creamer already has his undergraduate degree from the Bauer Business School in Houston with a minor in management and a major in marketing. He’s currently working towards his masters in management leadership. His interned at a couple of places, but right now his future is wide open. For the first time in a while, Creamer is content to just sit back and catch his breath as he ponders what’s next.
“I’m just going to wait it out. I’ll take a semester to finish up school and see where it goes from there,” Creamer said. “Me and my brothers always talked about going into business together, but it’s been a long, slow process, and they’re all going off and doing their own thing. It’s still in the back of our minds, though. Guy is going into his last season of football, and Clay has his life with his wife. Right now there are opportunities for me going both ways – in business and away from business. I’m just focused on finishing school then I want to take some time to reflect and see where I wanna go.”
As Creamer reflected on his life at the University of Houston, where he was known as the “Redneck Cowboy” because of his habit of wearing cowboy boots and jeans, picking his guitar and wearing a cowboy hat around campus, and said the one thing that never wavered was his faith. He said that even when times were the toughest, it was his belief in God that kept him going, and he believes it’s that faith that will guide him into the next chapter of his life.
“You go into college and there are huge learning curves, but I always let my faith guide me. My faith was everything. I have played a lot of games, made a lot of memories and did a lot of stuff on the field, but those guys you go to church with, that you go to Bible study with … talking with those guys who are going through the same stuff you are … those conversations and those times and those men and those teammates are what really made it worth it all. That ended up being the mindset for me – I’ll let God do with football what he wants. I’m now ready for whatever is next,” Creamer said.
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Contact the author at drnhsports@gmail.com
