Tank Dell spoke publicly for the first time Tuesday about the injuries he sustained in a shooting at a nightclub in April that nearly devastated his second season with the Texans.
The wide receiver was an innocent bystander in the shooting at Cabana Live in Sanford, Florida, when an argument between 16-year-old Christopher Booey Jr. and another person sparked a shootout that left him with “minor injuries.”
“My boys saw I was at home and reached out to me and said, ‘Come party,'” Dell said on Barstool Sports’ “Million Dollars Worth of a Game” podcast, with fellow guest Texans quarterback CJ Stroud.
“I had heard there would be a security check at the entrance, so I was like, ‘It’s OK, it’s OK.’ The atmosphere was good and I knew a lot of people, so it was nice. But then all of a sudden, that incident happened.”
Dell, 24, had come to Florida to visit his mother in Daytona Beach, just under 40 miles from Sanford.
As the argument between the two club-goers heated up, Dell explained that he thought he was far enough away from the incident, but ultimately wasn’t.
Ten people were injured in the shooting, which occurred as two Seminole County sheriff’s deputies were checking entrants at the main entrance.
Stroud explained that he first heard about the shooting through a text message from the Texans’ public relations team while he was attending a 76ers game.
“I dropped my phone because all I read was, ‘Tanks hit,'” Stroud said. “I started crying. When you hear news like that, you assume the worst.”
The second-year quarterback said it was an eye-opening experience for him as a young professional athlete who is still adjusting to the professional world.
“someday[s] “When I come home, that’s where I feel comfortable. I go to pool parties, bowling alleys, skating rinks, house parties. I’m with the people I grew up with. That’s not going to change just because I have a little bit of money,” he said. “But for that moment to happen so quickly was an eye-opening experience, not just for Tank, but for the rest of the world and all the athletes.”
Three weeks after the shooting, Dell is fully healthy and on the Texans’ practice field preparing for his second NFL season.
Dell had 47 catches for 701 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 appearances, including eight starts, during his rookie season.
He is a product of the University of Houston and was selected by the Texans in the third round (69th overall) in the 2023 draft.
