Interesting to note McNair gave $1m to Trump and $100k to Ed Gillespie. Texans Owner Apologizes for a Remark That Players Found Offensive https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/27/sports/football/bob-mcnair-texans.html Houston Texans owner Bob McNair apologized on Friday for remarks he made last week about “inmates running the prison” if N.F.L. owners allowed players to continue to sit or kneel during the national anthem, but the apology appears to have done little to appease his own players. McNair made the comment among 11 owners and a dozen players, many of them African-Americans who have demonstrated during the anthem to highlight a lack of attention to racial oppression. The players and owners were seeking common ground on the issue at a meeting at N.F.L. headquarters in Manhattan. When discussion turned to whether the league ought to clamp down on the protests, McNair suggested it should because “we can’t have the inmates running the prison.” The comment was taken as insensitive and demeaning to the players. “I never meant to offend anyone, and I was not referring to our players,” McNair said in a statement on Friday. “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.” Some players on the Texans, though, were having a hard time accepting McNair’s apology. They considered walking out of practice on Friday, and one player, DeAndre Hopkins, did not attend, according to The Houston Chronicle. Texans offensive tackle Duane Brown called McNair’s comments “disrespectful,” “ignorant,” and “embarrassing.” “I think it angered a lot of players, including myself,” he told The Chronicle. “To use an analogy of inmates in a prison, I would say they’re disrespectful.” The Texans coach, Bill O’Brien, and the team’s general manager, Rick Smith, held a 90-minute meeting with the players later Friday, according to ESPN. Players on other teams took notice, particularly Richard Sherman, a cornerback for the Seattle Seahawks, whom the Texans play on Sunday. On Twitter, Sherman said somewhat mockingly that McNair did not need to apologize. “You meant what you said,” Sherman wrote. “Showing true colors allows ppl to see you for who you are.” McNair’s apology came days before owners and players were expected to meet again at N.F.L. headquarters to continue talking about how to address some of the players’ concerns. Several players have been kneeling or sitting during the national anthem since last season to raise awareness about racism and related issues like police brutality against black Americans. It is unclear whether McNair will attend the meeting. McNair, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder are among the owners who have been most in favor of changing league rules to obligate players to stand during the anthem. Many other owners, though, do not want to force players to stand because they fear it could lead to an even larger backlash.
I stand by my original take on this: McNair did not mean this the way it is being taken, he simply misused a colloquial expression about "inmates running the asylum" to reference employees running the business. If anything I think it reflects more his position that players don't know what's good for the league than any sort of racism. I think it's silly to say he apologized to be politically correct. The article said McNair went up to Troy Vincent privately AFTER the meeting concluded to apologize directly to him, man to man, because he felt bad about what he said being taken that way. That is not a "PC apology."
Comparing your employees to inmates in a prison (or asylum) is disrespectful, irrespective of any racial overtones one might read from it. It's good that he apologized.
Is it a coincidence that no Texans have kneeled since this started and what role has McNair had in that is the question I'd like answered. I suspect we're going to hear more and I hope we do. McNair had had every opportunity to disavow Trump's embrace of white supremacy.
I think Duane put a fist up in the air? Maybe it stems from the meeting McNair had with his players when all of this started to discuss race relations? Maybe it's because the team leadership here has been white historically and guys look to them for leadership and don't want to upset the team structure? By that I mean, Cushing and Watt. Aren't things like this normally discussed among the team? I really have no idea.
Why do some people look for ways to find something offensive??? I can't stand McNair or the Texans but what he said is something that is said all of the time as an expression. It was a poor choice of words but to take offense about it is really stupid.
Donating the same amount to Trump that you do to Harvey relief as an owner in the city doesn’t really sit well.
Definitely intriguing thing to say. The expression is "Inmates running the asylum" McNair used "prison" which may indicate some bias considering that this whole issue that is being fought is about the criminal justice system. A very poor choice of words. He apologized quickly for it which is good. I don't think a lot should be made of this, but it does reinforce players suspicion.
The first time this phrase was uttered, to the best of my knowledge, occured when Charlie Chaplin said, "The inmates are running the asylum," regarding the founding of United Artists. Perhaps it was used before, but that is certainly what popularized it. The "inmates" in this context were himself and his friends/colleagues - the "artists" part of Untied Artist who were operating their own movie studio without dedicated studio executives like the Warners, or Louie B Mayer - money men - riding herd over the talent to keep them in line. Rather, the talent was in charge. Before now, it never has had a negative connotation. People who have never heard the phrase before now, and are in a fighting mood might view it thusly. I would be amazed if anybody that has actually used a variation of the phrase before views it in that way. It simply denotes "the talent" governing themselves.
PRISON . . the man said PRISON . . . . . .. lol . .. . . . . The saying has NEVER been . . . PRISON CriminalS!!!!! Maybe we can get some RED WHITE AND BLUE versions of these: Rocket River
We know what the phrase means and we know the context in which it was said, who said it, and why saying prison instead of asylum matters.
Only the most simple minded people on the planet would take offense to his use of a common idiom even if he bungled the end of it. That's why it's not shocking to see certain posters pretend to be offended by what he said. I mean, at least the players have the excuse of not having fully functioning brains due to CTE....
If the Texans billionaire owner doesn't bow down to the wishes of an internet extremist after a callous but common remark regarding his business being run by his employees then he's obviously a racist and deserves a strongly worded thread...check.
They're the talent in a collection of entertainment and performance based exhibitions, the distinction implies both a subordination and illegitimacy of input that doesn't hold as much as it would in a typical company situation. Granted McNair will never be a vindictive, micro-managing sociopath who, along with Modell, kicked off the last quarter-century of stadium blackmail.
