Can I tell you a story, John?

The NFL Draft starts today, and I'm thinking of all the guys out there hoping their names get called. Eighteen years ago, I wasn't one of them.

I was coming off my last year at Baylor – a year that, as team captain, I was incredibly proud of and am to this day. It wasn't because we were the best or most talented team; we were the underdog in a lot of our games. But we consistently outperformed expectations and beat teams that were better than us, at least on paper, because we had grit, determination, and brotherhood. As graduation approached, I was actually getting ready to go off to law school. But I started getting calls from NFL agents who wanted to represent me and convinced me I had a shot at playing in the NFL.

Now, back to that 2006 draft. I went undrafted, which as you'll see over these next few days means 32 teams passed on me seven times. But I was used to being an underdog and determined to prove I could play in the NFL. One thing you should know about me, John, is that when I set my mind to something, I get it done.

Even though there were a bunch of linebackers ahead of me, I refused to be outworked at those tryouts and wound up playing five years for the Tennessee Titans before hanging up my cleats, going to law school, and fulfilling my dream of becoming a civil rights lawyer.

I decided to run for Congress because I wanted to serve the North Texas community that raised me. Once again, I was a heavy underdog – at one point, experts gave me just a 10% chance of winning. But I had grit, determination, and an incredible team by my side.

Together, we built a powerful grassroots movement and beat the odds to unseat an 11-term Republican incumbent and help Democrats flip the House blue in 2018. I couldn't have done it without folks like you, John.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, because here we are again: I'm the underdog taking on Ted Cruz. I know we can beat the odds and win, but I need one of the strongest teams I've ever worked with to get the job done, and I need you to be on this team, John. Will you join me by donating $5 or $25 right now to help us defeat Ted Cruz?

Believe it or not, we're a lot better off now than I was at this point in 2018. Polls show me and Ted Cruz TIED, and experts are calling him the most vulnerable Republican Senator in the country. If we can just raise the resources to continue reaching undecided voters across Texas, we can FINALLY fire Ted Cruz and deliver real leadership for Texans.

I need to raise another $26,153 today to stay on track to reach our daily fundraising goal, so I'm personally asking, John: Will you chip in $5, $25, or anything at all to power our grassroots movement forward? I can't do this alone, but together, I know we have what it takes to send Ted Cruz packing once and for all.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this long email – and thank you for being on my team. Let's do this!

Colin