It’s Day Two of the latest anthem-related controversy, and Texans owner Bob McNair has issued his second statement in two days about his remark from the recent league meetings that "[w]e can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
“As I said yesterday, I was not referring to our players when I made a very regretful comment during the owners meetings last week,” McNair said. “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.
“I am truly sorry to the players for how this has impacted them and the perception that it has created of me which could not be further from the truth. Our focus going forward, personally and as an organization, will be towards making meaningful progress regarding the social issues that mean so much to our players and our community.”
McNair’s Friday statement included an assertion that “I was not referring to our players,” but it omitted who he was referring to. Saturday’s statement, while it may take some of the sting out of the impact of the remark on the relationship between players and owners, constitutes a rare airing of dirty laundry regarding the relationship between the league office and owners.
The added remark that the league office has been “making significant strategic decisions affecting our league without adequate input from ownership over the past few years” invites curiosity as to what he’s specifically referring to -- and as to why, if these issues exist, the man in charge of the league office is on the brink of a five-year contract extension.
