Houston Texans owner Bob McNair has released an apology following controversial comments he reportedly made during a meeting with NFL owners and players.
On Oct. 17, 11 NFL owners and 13 players met at league headquarters in New York City. The anthem protests were the impetus for the meeting. But what resulted wasn’t a mandate that players have to stand for the anthem but that the league and the NFLPA would work together on how to move forward, according to an exhaustive story from Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN the Magazine.
“Respecting the flag” was important optically but so too was addressing players’ concerns about social inequality, which was the reason Colin Kaepernick protested during the anthem for the first time in August 2016.
“We can’t have the inmates running the prison,” McNair reportedly said, referring to the players.
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