PRISON BREAK
Texans revolt after owner compares players to inmates
The Texans nearly staged a team-wide walkout Friday, a few hours after owner Bob McNair apologized for comparing NFL players to “inmates” in a prison, ESPN reported.
Houston’s best offensive player, wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, skipped practice for “personal reasons,” but ESPN later confirmed it was in response to McNair’s comments.
McNair sparked the outrage by saying, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison,” during an NFL owners meeting one day after he and 10 other league representatives met with current and former players to discuss the issues behind the national anthem protests, according to ESPN.
An NFL owner using that analogy after a meeting with players to discuss these issues, which included “criminal justice reform, law enforcement and community engagement” did not help the league’s desire to ease tensions. The protests have earned significantly more attention since Donald Trump began blasting players and the league about them. McNair donated more money to TTrump’s election campaignpaign than aany other NFL owner, according tto Business Insider. Texans offensive lineman Duane BBrown said McNair’s commecomments “sickened” him and werew “horrible,” accordcording to the Houston ChrChronicle. Brown also saisaid he wasn’t surp prised ments and by that the Houscomtoton players are not done dealing with the isissue. Head coach Bill OO’Brien said he is “100 pepercent” with his playersers. O’Brien, general manmanager Rick Smith and assisassistant coach Romeo CrennCrennel brought the team togethetogether in a pre-practice meeting, according to ESPN, and told theth players what Mc- Nair had said. The meeting reportedly lasted 90 minutes and gave players a chance to speak about the comments.
Many players wanted to leave the facility. Hopkins did. ESPN reported the entire team, including Hopkins, is expected to be in the team’s game plan Saturday en route to Seattle to play the Seahawks on Sunday.
“We will show up in Seattle and play. We will play very hard,” O’Brien told ESPN. “We will be there when the ball is kicked off in Seattle.”
McNair apologized for his comments in a statement.
“I regret that I used that expression,” McNair’s statement read. “I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players. I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally. I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it.”
Texans rookie defensive back Treston Decoud was among several NFL players who tweeted a lack of belief in his sincerity.
“I don’t believe [McNair] is the only owner that feel that way … smh,” Decoud wrote.