Mixed signals
Kudos to owner
Regarding “McNair regrets his apology for fall remark” (Page C1, Friday), I am certainly glad that Texans owner Bob McNair has realized that he had no reason to apologize to anyone about what he said last October. He was absolutely correct whether talking about the league office or the players. If not for people like McNair who invest heavily in developing a professional football team, there wouldn't be any.
Having a bunch of employees, as players are, telling the team owner and the league what they should allow or not allow is nonsense. The harm done by Colin Kaepernick and his minions is irreversible for many fans. I refuse to support any professional sports team that allows political commentary on the field. These players are disrespectful to fans who have paid lots of money to watch sports competition and are not interested in their political or social displays.
Kudos to McNair for getting his courage back and rebuking those who want to further denigrate the game, our country and the fans.
James Connealy, Baytown
Players’ option
So let me see if I have this right. Bob McNair makes a derogatory statement about players taking a knee — “we can’t have the inmates running the prison.” Then he expresses regret for saying it. Now he expresses regret for having said he regrets saying it.
Compounding matters, McNair then reaches into his bag of bad analogies and compares the kneeling players to McDonald’s employees who, in selling burgers, would preach the merits of vegetarianism.
So what’s the burger here? Patriotism, as Bob defines it? And any employee who doesn’t hew to Bob’s definition of patriotism is therefore antiAmerican and doesn’t have a place in his (taxpayer-funded) NFL stadium?
These players choose to kneel in the stadiums for a reason — so that their actions will be noticed. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised their fists while atop an Olympic medal podium on international TV because they knew that doing the same thing in their driveways would have no effect.
David Bradley, Spring