Texans stick to usual spin
Bill O’Brien’s shameful explanation for the horrible Hopkins trade is telling
O’Brien using money as excuse for Hopkins trade is simply shameful.
Like an old ketchup commercial, we waited patiently, anticipating the spin Bill O’Brien would employ to justify the Texans trading away their best player.
The guy who has been their best player for the last three or four years. A guy who is arguably the best player at his position in the entire NFL.
Getting rid of DeAndre Hopkins isn’t justifiable, but we had to give O’Brien a chance to explain why he traded his best player for one Arizona thought was only the third-best at his position. The Cardinals won half as many games as the Texans did last season, by the way.
Convincing even a casual NFL fan this move made sense would require some amusement park ride-type spin. I couldn’t wait to see it.
I knew O’Brien would say it was in the BIOTT, as in the “best interest of the team.” BIOTT is on Page 1 of Bill Belichick’s “BS the Media” manual.
As expected, O’Brien repeated it several times.
But to take the cheap, dirty route of claiming this call was about money is shameful.
That is what O’Brien did in a town hall conference call with season ticket holders Friday.
“DeAndre Hopkins was a great football player for us here,” O’Brien said. “We love DeAndre Hopkins, but he had three years left on his deal and he wanted a raise. We weren’t going to be able to go in that direction.”
Hopkins wanting a raise wasn’t an outrageous request, and it certainly wasn’t a transgression that needed to be punished.
The Texans ought to be embarrassed O’Brien hinted as much.
Worse yet, O’Brien’s breakdown of the pathetic return from Arizona for moving a player of Hopkins’ caliber is downright hilarious.
“I would think as a fan, I would be really excited that your leadership can make bold moves and can go make the moves that make the team better,” he said. “It’s an exciting time for us.”
If somehow the Hopkins trade works out — he gets injured or David Johnson has a rare comeback season — it will be due to luck, not genius.
The sheer audacity with which O’Brien defends this trade is inspiring for George Costanza followers.
It’s not a lie if he believes it. CEO Cal McNair, son of the team’s founder, the late Bob McNair, obviously believes.
O’Brien makes it sound as if were there not government orders to stay at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Texans would have hosted a parade to celebrate Hopkins’ departure.
It’s so exciting!
This is how owners treat players in professional sports. Usually, head coaches side with players.
But O’Brien isn’t just the Texans’ head coach.
As for checks and balances in the Texans’ front office, all indications are O’Brien isn’t being checked.
Allowing the head coach to be in charge of who gets paid AND how much removes a level of approval that would prevent emotional, irrational decisions such as this one.
A good general manager would explain to his head coach that if he isn’t good enough to coach Hopkins, he should resign and go looking for work elsewhere.
Hopkins played hurt, never complained publicly, didn’t have any off-the-field issues that tarnished the brand, and wasn’t a negative in the locker room.
There isn’t a true ranking system that has Hopkins outside of the top five receivers in the league. Many have him No. 1.
Hopkins’ salary for the 2020 season is only the 11th-highest at his position. The highest-paid wideout will make $10 million more this season than Hopkins’ contract calls for.
Wouldn’t you ask for a bump in salary were you in his position?
Perhaps O’Brien is upset he isn’t among the 10 highest-paid coaches in the NFL. Of course, he isn’t one of the top 10 coaches in the league, but that is beside the point.
See, the Texans’ general manager gets to decide how valuable the Texans’ head coach is. Turns out, the GM and coach are one and the same.
How convenient.
Future headline: “Texans general manager announces raise for head coach.”
O’Brien didn’t have the nerve to run this foolishness by the media. We’re soft here, but we still manage to get under the skin of Mr. Sensitive.
There was a change.org petition initiated just after the trade that called for a boycott of the Texans until O’Brien is no longer with the team.
As of Saturday afternoon, 24,160 of the desired 25,000 had signed Michael Hall’s post.
Change dot whatever. This is not an organization that easily embraces change. Not at the top, at least.
Yes, nearly 25,000 claim they will boycott the franchise, but more than 70,000 will be inside NRG Stadium whenever the Texans host their next home game.
Anticipation of what could be will drown out disappointment of what should have been.
As the song says, “We can never know about the days to come, but we think about them anyway.”