Former TCU star helps Houston Texans trounce Dallas Cowboys in Monday Night Football game

There were many reasons the Houston Texans’ Dylan Horton was happy to return to Dallas-Fort Worth this week. And, for the former Frisco High School and TCU standout, beating the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night was only one of them.

In December of 2023, the Texans defensive end was diagnosed with stage four Hodgkin lymphoma.

The diagnosis put a pause on his NFL career.

Four months later, in March 2024, Horton announced he was in remission.

And less than a year after the diagnosis, Horton helped the Texans beat the Cowboys 34-10, at AT&T Stadium. After the game, he explained how it felt to get back to football after his fight with cancer.

“It’s been an amazing journey,” he said. “You know, just like having the support system that I had, my family, my friends, even everybody at the Texans, everybody on my friends, reaching out, just having that support to really help with my journey.”

Horton was activated off the non-football injured list before the Texans’ Oct. 6 game against the Buffalo Bills.

It was sweet to return back to the area and play in front of an estimated 15-20 family members and friends on Monday.

“Great, coming back home when my family and all my friends were in the stands,” he said. “But you know, it’s even better getting to win, especially with knowing how hard you work throughout the week finishing games.”

He had a season-high three tackles and played a career-high 35 defensive snaps.

Horton started his college career playing for the University of New Mexico playing two seasons for the Lobos before entering the transfer portal and choosing the Horned Frogs.

He played three seasons at TCU and had a standout senior season in 2022 with 52 tackles and had a career-high in tackles for loss (15) and sacks (10.5) on his way to an All-Big 12 selection.

Horton was a crucial piece of the 2022 Horned Frogs who advanced to the College Football Playoff national championship game. On their way to the CFP title game, Horton had a standout performance with four tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup in the 51-45 Fiesta Bowl victory over Michigan.

The Texans drafted him with the No. 109th pick in the 2023 draft. He was one of eight TCU players taken in that draft.