The overwhelming majority of the Texans players yesterday "opted to show their displeasure" with Owner Bob McNair by "kneeling and joining arms together on the field during the national anthem" before their game against the Seahawks, according to Aaron Wilson of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. The move came after McNair earlier this month at the NFL owners meeting seemingly comparing NFLers to inmates in prison. Yesterday was the "first time Texans' players have knelt" during the anthem. Texans CB Jonathan Joseph said that he "doesn't expect more protests from players during the national anthem." Joseph: "It's definitely over with." McNair has "apologized twice publicly" for comments (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/30). Texans OT Duane Brown said of the demonstrations, "Some people didn't feel quite comfortable doing it, some people did. But we all supported each other, and that was what was important." Brown said a meeting between McNair and the players on Saturday did not go "too well." Brown: "We blocked out all distractions and came out here ready to play" (ESPN.com, 10/29). Texans CB Marcus Williams: "What he said, a lot of the players felt was wrong." The Texans said that they "held a team meeting to determine what to do during the anthem" yesterday, and the "consensus was to link arms but allow people to make individual decisions" (SEATTLE TIMES, 10/30).
ANOTHER BAD MOVE: In Houston, Dale Robertson writes McNair "stumbled into a mess of his own making and his subsequent apologies have fixed nothing." Most Texans players "knelt during the national anthem." The divide, unfortunately, was almost 100% "along racial lines." By and large, the "white Texans stood" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/30). The HOUSTON CHRONICLE's Wilson notes in a front-page piece McNair "didn't attend" yesterday's game because of his "health issues." Despite McNair's apologies and talk with the team on Saturday, the "issue remains" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/30). Seahawks WR Doug Baldwin said, "I'm 100 percent backing them. I'm supportive of what they did, the decision that they made, because those were egregious comments, and the lackluster apology is just hard to deal with" (USA TODAY, 10/30). The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Andrew Beaton writes, "This latest demonstration marks a major setback for the league, which has eagerly sought to move past the national anthem protests" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 10/30).
 |
| McNair said that he was not referring to the players when he made his comment |
SHIFTING APOLOGIES: CBSSPORTS.com's John Breech noted in McNair's second apology, he tried to "clarify things by pointing out that he wasn't referring to NFL players when he made the statement and that he was actually referring to the league office." McNair in his statement said, "I was not referring to our players when I made a very regretful comment during the owners meeting last week. I was referring to the relationship between the league office and team owners and how they have been making significant strategic decisions affecting our league without adequate input from ownership over the past few years." In his first apology, McNair said that he would "never 'characterize our players or our league' by referring to them in such a manner" (CBSSPORTS.com, 10/28). ESPN's Chris Mortensen said of McNair's comments, "In canvassing some of the owners in that meeting, some said exactly what Bob McNair released (Saturday), that he was speaking about the league office, the league employees. But I had another person in that meeting who said, 'No, he was all inclusive. He included the league office, but it included the players,' and when he walked out of that meeting, he felt it was one of the most depressing meetings he has been to since before 1993" ("Sunday NFL Countdown," ESPN, 10/29). CBS' Dana Jacobson said, "Joseph actually reminded us this is a team where guys have wanted to kneel previously, but haven't out of respect for Bob McNair. Today it will be in response to Bob McNair, and it will be 100% unified." CBS' James Brown said of McNair's apology, "I take him at his word and pray that we can move forward and truly hearing each other and to make substantive progress that can be made if we see each other as equals and nothing less" ("The NFL Today," CBS, 10/29). ESPN's Matt Hasselbeck said, "It strikes a nerve, it crushes your spirit, it makes you very angry" ("Sunday NFL Countdown," ESPN, 10/29).
BEEN HERE BEFORE: PRO FOOTBALL TALK's Mike Florio noted Duane Brown "wasn’t surprised" by McNair's comments, because it "wasn’t the first time Brown believed he had witnessed McNair making curious word choices on matters of significant sensitivity and potential controversy." Brown "recalled an occasion during his rookie year" of '08, when President Obama was "elected the nation’s first African-American president." Brown said of McNair, "He came to talk to the team. He was visibly upset about it. He said, ‘I know a lot of y’all are happy right now, but it’s not the outcome that some of us were looking for.’ That was very shocking to me" (PROFOOTBALLTALK.com, 10/28). YAHOO SPORTS' Dan Wetzel wrote just as the protesting during the anthem debate was "appearing to be fading from attention," here came McNair, "shooting the league in the foot." President Trump had "seemingly moved on from the issue" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 10/28).
POOR CHOICE OF WORDS: 49ers S Eric Reid said McNair "couldn’t have picked a poorer choice of words, referring to us as prisoners. Welcome to America 2017." Reid: "I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say it was a massively poor decision to use that choice of words. But you can’t use that rhetoric when you’re trying to compromise. I want to believe he didn’t mean it but that’s the norm in our society" (San Jose MERCURY NEWS, 10/28). SI.com's Michael Rosenberg wrote, "It was an awful choice of words. But I believe it was an unintentionally awful choice, in the middle of a heated meeting. McNair reached for an idiom and chose the wrong one" (SI.com, 10/27). Brown said, "The comments were disrespectful; I think it was ignorant; I think it was embarrassing. It angered a lot of players, including myself." He added, "This is bigger than just the protests. This is the view of player-owner relationship. This is how you view us: 'You're an inmate. We can't let you guys out of line. We can't let you speak for yourself. We can't let you have your own beliefs.' That's what it feels like. It's a bad situation." In Houston, Wilson & Downen noted area lawmakers and civil rights leaders "slammed McNair's comments and said they were against a proposed statue of the Texans owner to be built at NRG Stadium" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/28).
OUT OF TOUCH: THE UNDEFEATED's Jason Reid wrote McNair’s "tone-deaf comment was much more than merely a gaffe." To players in the room, it was yet another "in-your-face reminder that some owners ... simply don’t get where they’re coming from." And most "likely never will" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 10/28). In Boston, Chad Finn wrote for a group of "highly successful people, the NFL owners sure do come across as hapless and tone-deaf rather often" (BOSTON GLOBE, 10/28). SI.com's Albert Breer noted he has had heard one NFL owner is "fond of using the acronym 'LRC' to remind his employees who’s in charge." LRC -- Lower Righthand Corner -- as in is "where a check is signed." Comparing pro football players to inmates "raises a number of terrible stereotypes" (SI.com, 10/27).
