Bob McNair

[barrett]

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...mcnair-comment

It looks like our idiot owner is doing his best to sabotage a season that had potential.

On the one hand that's a stupid thing to get offended by. I have heard that saying used to refer to 100 different things and none of those things were actual inmates. Most often I hear it about teachers in a classroom and it has nothing to do with little kids being inmates.

On the other hand Bob McNair is an idiot. You're dealing with a seriously emotional issue that the players have clearly planted a flag on, so why you'd be off the cuff on something like this is beyond me. It may be a dumb thing to get mad about, but it is even dumber to go into a meeting on flag protests calling mostly black protesters inmates, no matter the context.

Either way it will absolutely have a negative impact on the team. Especially when you have a guy with an axe to grind like Duane Brown who is ready to use this to stick it to the guy who just stuck it to him. I guess we're getting an early start on wasting Deshaun Watson like we wasted JJ Watt.

[Nconroe]

I guess we get to speculate on the effect but it's not good.

Might be really bad. Very unfortunate words.

McNair needs to have a face to face meeting with the team fast .

I saw nationally it's, freedom of speech, player protests, respect for flag, a hot topic with 52% not supporting players.

Owners are concerned the protests adding to their dip in revenue this year, so a tough topic.

Me, I keep watching and support freedom of speech, our first amendment. Others opinions are heard for sure.

[Arky]

I believe the oft-used expression "Inmates running the asylum" is what he meant. That was error #1. It would certainly haved been "softer" than what he said.

He's issued an apology and I'm sure he feels badly about it. What does anyone expect beyond that?

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Arky

I believe the oft-used expression "Inmates running the asylum" is what he meant. That was error #1. It would certainly haved been "softer" than what he said.

He's issued an apology and I'm sure he feels badly about it. What does anyone expect beyond that?

It's not about what anyone expects after the fact. It's about the players wanting someone to blame for the last few months. Reggie Bush called on twitter for him to be ousted as owner like Donald Sterling. They want his head. The players now think they have someone they can hold accountable for their anger. They can't get Donald Trump but they can get Bob McNair.

It won't matter what's reasonable to expect, if he was sincere, if he apologizes, if he donates to the NAACP, or anything else. He is now a racist in the minds of half the NFL players. There is no way that is anything but terrible for the Texans.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by barrett

It's not about what anyone expects after the fact. It's about the players wanting someone to blame for the last few months. Reggie Bush called on twitter for him to be ousted as owner like Donald Sterling. They want his head. The players now think they have someone they can hold accountable for their anger. They can't get Donald Trump but they can get Bob McNair.

It won't matter what's reasonable to expect, if he was sincere, if he apologizes, if he donates to the NAACP, or anything else. He is now a racist in the minds of half the NFL players. There is no way that is anything but terrible for the Texans.

Not disputing that. "They" can vilify him all they want. Call him names. Crucify him. Quit football in protest. That's their problem. He's issued a public apology. At some point everyone has to move on.....

Just a bad distraction at the wrong time. Vegas is watching. The spread has risen from Seattle by 5½ to 7½....

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Arky

I believe the oft-used expression "Inmates running the asylum" is what he meant.

I don't know what he meant, I just know what he said. Prison. There are all sorts of ways you can read that and none of them is good.

I fking hate McNair, as you all know. Prior to any of this he's proven himself to be a bigoted cumstain among other insalubrious things. So this does not surprise me in the least, to discover that he thinks of the players in question - not ALL of his players, mind you, just the ones who might choose to act in some form of peaceful protest - that he thinks of them as prisoners.

I will be so proud of the players if they all take a knee or sit or stand and look at McNair and give him the FU or whatever it is.

In the mean time the national backlash is as embarrassing as it is deserved.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Arky

Not disputing that. "They" can vilify him all they want. Call him names. Crucify him. Quit football in protest. That's their problem. He's issued a public apology. At some point everyone has to move on.....

Just a bad distraction at the wrong time. Vegas is watching. The spread has risen from Seattle by 5½ to 7½....

Actually nobody has to move on. Nobody moved on with Donald Sterling and he had to go away. We have no idea how this plays out and we have no idea whether the players will just move on.

Just like fans can stop watching, and owners can not hire guys who kneel, the players can not play for owners who make racially charged statements. And make no mistake it is racially charged. There is nothing that bothers the African American community more than prisons, and McNair decides to change the metaphor to make it about prisons and inmates. That's not a slip of the tongue. You don't make up whole new sayings that have never been said unless there is something behind it. Add to it that he's the biggest republican donor in Houston, and we now have a team that no black player will want to sign with for the next 5 years. Bob McNair has torpedoed the entire organization and while guys will play this week and collect paychecks, a large number of them will never forget this as long as McNair owns the team.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

I don't know what he meant, I just know what he said. Prison. There are all sorts of ways you can read that and none of them is good.

I fking hate McNair, as you all know. Prior to any of this he's proven himself to be a bigoted cumstain among other insalubrious things. So this does not surprise me in the least, to discover that he thinks of the players in question - not ALL of his players, mind you, just the ones who might choose to act in some form of peaceful protest - that he thinks of them as prisoners.

I will be so proud of the players if they all take a knee or sit or stand and look at McNair and give him the FU or whatever it is.

In the mean time the national backlash is as embarrassing as it is deserved.

The half of the country who supports the protests (and it's almost an even split according to polls) will now have their villain, and they will love that their villain is a Texan. And 90% of the players you really want to sign are in that half of the country. So we just became the last place any guy wants to sign going forward.

Up to now Bob McNair has been a worthless owner who gave us no positives, but now he is a negative who will actively hurt this team's chances of winning.

[chuck]

Oddly enough I'm not quite as pessimistic as all that right now. I think money talks and when the Uncle Tom GM dangles money, lots of guys will snap at it. But if they don't and McNeck becomes the NFL's Sterling, great. It's well deserved.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by barrett

Actually nobody has to move on. Nobody moved on with Donald Sterling and he had to go away. We have no idea how this plays out and we have no idea whether the players will just move on.

Just like fans can stop watching, and owners can not hire guys who kneel, the players can not play for owners who make racially charged statements. And make no mistake it is racially charged. There is nothing that bothers the African American community more than prisons, and McNair decides to change the metaphor to make it about prisons and inmates. That's not a slip of the tongue. You don't make up whole new sayings that have never been said unless there is something behind it. Add to it that he's the biggest republican donor in Houston, and we now have a team that no black player will want to sign with for the next 5 years. Bob McNair has torpedoed the entire organization and while guys will play this week and collect paychecks, a large number of them will never forget this as long as McNair owns the team.

Sorry, I disagree.

[Nconroe]

So, it was a dumb thing to say, but I don't think McNair is a redneck or racist.

I think McNair has done a lot to help Houston as well, including making large contributions to JJs Harvey recovery funds.


I do hope racism in the country is solved which was the point of the player protests.

Hope the Texans agree with that. Maybe not all will.

All can have their opinion. Plenty to fix in this country.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Nconroe

So, it was a dumb thing to say, but I don't think McNair is a redneck or racist.

Well, he's plainly both. What you're saying I think is that neither bothers you particularly, which is fair enough.

The protests are about something far more specific than racism, they're about the impunity with which police nationwide murder unarmed black citizens. It is lunacy, it is disgusting, it is shameful and it must stop. I for one am proud that people with a public platform are using it to bring attention to this horrible situation. I wish that more people would do more.

Entertainingly enough, the owners' being stupid, tone deaf dicks on this is simply amplifying everything and bringing into clearer focus just what a plantation racket the league really is.

[Nconroe]

I agree with your second paragraph.

I think you totally misunderstood or i was not clear in first paragraph.

The third paragraph, I'd rather see some positive suggestions to solve the problem. Maybe town hall meetings with owners, players, community, city leaders, and police? ,

Provide a way to continue the protest/discussion so that the flag can be respected as well.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Nconroe

The third paragraph, I'd rather see some positive suggestions to solve the problem. Maybe town hall meetings with owners, players, community, city leaders, and police? ,

Provide a way to continue the protest/discussion so that the flag can be respected as well.

Mark Cuban told his players they could make a recorded statement that would play on the jumbotron before the national anthem. This gives them the platform while removing the flag and the anthem from the equation. The protest during the anthem is as tone deaf as the owners response to it. Every owner should offer some avenue like Cuban did.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

Oddly enough I'm not quite as pessimistic as all that right now. I think money talks and when the Uncle Tom GM dangles money, lots of guys will snap at it. But if they don't and McNeck becomes the NFL's Sterling, great. It's well deserved.

Bob McNair's money will still spend, it just won't spend when a guy has another option.

And you can have any issue with Rick Smith's job performance, but calling him an uncle tom is just plain dumb. At worst he works for a racist and doesn't do anything about it.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Nconroe

I think you totally misunderstood or i was not clear in first paragraph.

The guy is a rich white 80 year old from South Carolina. It would take an extraordinary individual produced by those circumstances not to be racist to some degree. I can well imagine reasonable people deciding that that's just not particularly relevant when evaluating the fellow. It would be great, though, if he's exercise a bit more circumspection when speaking in public.

[Nconroe]

I'm glad McNair had a face to face apology and QNA with players before they took off for Seattle.

[HPF Bob]

Before now, McNair was considered a model owner - someone who built mediocre teams, spent enough but not too much, willing to be on various committees and generally stayed out of the headlines. I was happy to see the Texans largely ignored in this whole sideline thing.

That was, of course, before the "inmates" comment and now McNair is Bull Connor with the fire hoses. Proof again that you can say and do 100 things to help blacks and the black community and the first time you open your mouth in opposition, the media lynch mob comes out to accuse you of fondling white hoods in your private moments.

Where is Rick Smith while his boss twists in the wind? Does he not speak or is the media unwilling to give him a voice because it might dent their narrative?

They're comparing McNair to Donald Sterling who, you'll recall, won awards from the Los Angeles NAACP prior to his being pilloried by the press and also sold the Clippers at a huge profit to another group of whites. Some punishment.

Also, aren't the black athletes who are offended self-identifying as prisoners by voicing their offense? If he said we can't let the clowns run the circus, would they self-identify as clowns?

Nonetheless, several here expressed their firm desire to see McNair sell the team and I suspect he'll be hounded until he does unless he kisses ass sufficiently. All you need to do is look around the NFL to see the quality of ownership around the league to realize it could be much worse than what we have.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Before now, McNair was considered a model owner - someone who built mediocre teams, spent enough but not too much, willing to be on various committees and generally stayed out of the headlines. I was happy to see the Texans largely ignored in this whole sideline thing.

That was, of course, before the "inmates" comment and now McNair is Bull Connor with the fire hoses. Proof again that you can say and do 100 things to help blacks and the black community and the first time you open your mouth in opposition, the media lynch mob comes out to accuse you of fondling white hoods in your private moments.

Where is Rick Smith while his boss twists in the wind? Does he not speak or is the media unwilling to give him a voice because it might dent their narrative?

They're comparing McNair to Donald Sterling who, you'll recall, won awards from the Los Angeles NAACP prior to his being pilloried by the press and also sold the Clippers at a huge profit to another group of whites. Some punishment.

Also, aren't the black athletes who are offended self-identifying as prisoners by voicing their offense? If he said we can't let the clowns run the circus, would they self-identify as clowns?

Nonetheless, several here expressed their firm desire to see McNair sell the team and I suspect he'll be hounded until he does unless he kisses ass sufficiently. All you need to do is look around the NFL to see the quality of ownership around the league to realize it could be much worse than what we have.

Totally agree. Good post. I might add:

KEEP THE POLITICS OFF THE FIELD

[chuck]

Originally Posted by Arky

KEEP THE POLITICS OFF THE FIELD

It's not politics. I'm sorry you see it that way.