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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe Owner of the Houston Texans NFL Team Called Players 'Inmates.'
A meeting Saturday night among Houston Texans players concluded with a decision to stage a major protest during the National Anthem at Sundays game against the Seattle Seahawks. The decision was triggered by Texans owner Robert McNairs comment, made with regard to ongoing player protests, that we cant have the inmates running the prison.
McNair has since apologized repeatedly for the comments, which were originally reported by ESPN. Players told ESPN today that as many as two-thirds of the teams players will kneel during the national anthem, the gesture at the center of the protest firestorm. Players said they would not remove their teams insignia or walk out of the game, two possibilities that had been floated earlier.
Referring to players as inmates was a particularly controversial moment for McNair, given the context of the protests. Beginning with quarterback Colin Kaepernick last year, players across the league have knelt during the anthem to draw attention to police brutality and racial oppression of African-Americans oppression which some argue includes the disproportionate rate at which they are incarcerated in U.S. prisons.
McNairs comments were made in the midst of intense efforts by owners to reach an agreement with players over the protests, and now appear to have seriously undermined those efforts. The protests have owners shaken because they have come along with a downward trend in the leagues TV ratings and are reportedly threatening to alienate major sponsors.
http://fortune.com/2017/10/29/houston-texans-bob-mcnair-inmates-protest/?utm_campaign=time&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&xid=time_socialflow_twitter
MineralMan
(146,262 posts)Maybe McNair would like to go out on the field for the next game. Maybe all those back office people could suit up and play. That would be very interesting, indeed.
Freelancer
(2,107 posts)world wide wally
(21,739 posts)lindysalsagal
(20,592 posts)One of the inmates raised millions for hurricaine relief.