Texans owner Bob McNair effectively put his foot in his mouth at last week’s owners meeting when he said “we can’t let the inmates run the prison”. This is the same analogy as “letting the slaves run the plantation”, or “letting the babies run the daycare”.
What it REALLY means is : “WE CAN’T LET THESE BLACK PLAYERS OVERPOWER US ON THIS NATIONAL ANTHEM ISSUE”.
Make no mistake this all comes down to race, which is why some black Texans players felt strongly enough about these disrespectful comments to leave the facility, excuse themselves from practice, & are now considering additional protests on Sunday.
McNair, realizing he really stepped in it; tried to offer a hollow, dry apology ,ask that this his team focus on football, & just forget about this whole thing:
“I let them know that No. 1, the last thing I want to be is a distraction to the team,” McNair told Houston’s Fox 26 on Saturday. “If any of the players were offended by what was reported, I’m sorry about that, and I apologized to them for that. We need to just work together going forward.”
“I know they were upset,” McNair told the Houston Chronicle. “I wanted to answer their questions. I told them if I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t use that expression.”
Players, including pro bowl WR DeAndre Hopkins immediately reacted when the comments came to light last week with anger, & all-pro tackle Duane Brown’s wife posted this tweet in response:
My husband has put his BODY & MIND on the line for your team for 10 YRS & to you he is an “inmate”. You owe these players RESPECT & support https://t.co/RJWqgBb2NE
— DEVI BROWN (@DeviBrown) October 27, 2017
Although Brown was one of the players who helped get the team to stay on task and is a big reason why they’ll take the field this Sunday, make no mistake, anger is still resonating throughout the locker room:
“When it happened, there’s a thousand emotions going through your mind,” left tackle Duane Brown said Friday. “Obviously, one of the emotions is to leave the building immediately. [But] we decided to go to work. The situation’s not over. It’s something that we’ll reconvene and talk about again, but we had practice today.”
It will be interesting to see how the players respond when they take the field Sunday.
