The Sports Xchange

Shane Lechler of the Houston Texans hit the video board at AT&T Stadium with a booming punt in Thursday night’s preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys.

Lechler admitted after the game, won by the Cowboys 21-14, that he was aiming for the video board and had a wager with teammates about whether he could hit it with a punt.

“I think I’m going to win multiple dinners,” Lechler said Thursday night. “I had a little wager going with some guys. I hit it twice in warmups. I felt good about hitting it on that punt — but not good enough to tell everybody not to run down the field. That’s the first time I’ve had a do-over for hitting a scoreboard.”

Lechler, in his 16th NFL season, has a career average of 47.5 yards on 1,185 punts. He had six punts Thursday night, averaging 49.2 yards,

Lechler became the third punter ever to hit the video board, which now has been hit four times. His fourth-quarter punt hit the bottom of the HD screen, which is suspended 90 feet above the playing field. It forced a re-kick by NFL rules.

“I felt good about it,” Lechler said. “I’ve hit it a few times in pregame. Never really went after it in a team. That time, I did.”