In Monday’s season premiere of “The Bachelor,” there was about a three-second clip of Matt James wearing a Kevin Johnson Texans jersey.
If you were doing anything else besides watching the show – “The Bachelor” is the perfect background noise show for folding laundry – you might have missed it.
In the first few minutes, they gave everyone the truth about James as a bachelor. He runs shirtless, he loves his mother and he works with children. Yes, ABC put it on a thickness from the jump.
In file footage of James working with children in New York City, he is shown wearing a Kevin Johnson Houston Texans jersey.
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James and Johnson are close friends and spent five years as college teammates at Wake Forest. Both were part of the 2010 Demon Deacons recruiting class and completed their first season on campus together before playing together the next four seasons.
Johnson being Wake Forest’s top cornerback and James among the team’s top receivers, the two have faced each other often in practice. In fact, ahead of the 2014 season, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said NFL scouts were at his training asking him to confront Johnson over James.
“They said ‘Coach, the game we want to see is (Johnson) vs. (James),’ Clawson told the Winston Salem Journal in 2014.” I said “This is the game you’re going to have whether you like it or not.”
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Matt James, the charismatic and engaging star of ABC’s hit reality TV series The Bachelor, will hand out the roses for its memorable 25th season.
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WINSTON SALEM, NC – SEPTEMBER 17: Matt James # 87 of the Wake Forest Demon Deacons braces for a shot from Kamar Morrison # 13 of the Gardner-Webb Bulldogs at BB&T Field on September 17, 2011 in Winston Salem, North Carolina. The Demon Deacons defeated the Runnin Bulldogs 48-5. (Photo by Brian A. Westerholt / Getty Images)
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May 09, 2015: Matt James during exercises at the Carolina Panthers Mini Camp held at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jim Dedmon / Icon Sportswire / Corbis / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
May 09, 2015: Second round pick Devin Funchess of Michigan and Matt James of Wake Forest during exercises at the Carolina Panthers Mini Camp held at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jim Dedmon / Icon Sportswire / Corbis / Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 05: Tyler Cameron (L) and Matt James attend the Todd Snyder show during Men’s New York Fashion Week at Pier 59 Studios on February 05, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Dominik Bindl / Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 06: Matt James and Tyler Cameron attends Delta SkyMiles® American Express Relaunch at Helen Mills Event Space on February 6, 2020 in New York City. (Photo by Craig Barritt / Getty Images for American Express Delta SkyMiles® Card Wallet)
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NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 9: Matt James and Tyler Cameron attend the Blonds A / W 20 Fashion Show on February 9, 2020 at Spring Studios in New York City. (Photo by Paul Bruinooge / Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 17: Tyler Cameron (L) and Matt James attend the Hudson River Park Annual Gala at Cipriani South Street on October 17, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images for Hudson River Park)
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“I think there’s no question that if you ask KJ or Matt what has helped them the most, it hits every day. It’s a big body that Kevin has to face every day, and Matt James knows that if he can be open against KJ, he has to win it. “
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Johnson was then selected by the Texans in the first round of next year’s draft. Johnson played four seasons with the Texans before signing with the Buffalo Bills in 2019. This season he started six games with the Cleveland Browns.
