*Some Houston Texans players were about to stage a walkout after learning that team owner Bob McNair said, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison” during last week’s owners meeting in reference to ongoing player demonstrations during the national anthem, reports ESPN.com.
About 10 players, including wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, left the facility Friday, a source told ESPN’s Sarah Barshop. Sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Hopkins’ absence from practice Friday was directly related to McNair’s comment.
Most of the players who left ended up coming back to the facility, the source said, and the remaining players were reportedly talked out of their protest by the coaching staff.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien said Hopkins had taken a “personal day” to explain his absence from practice. O’Brien said Hopkins would play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
Meanwhile, offensive tackle Duane Brown told ESPN of McNair’s “inmates” comment, “I think the comments were disrespectful. I think it was ignorant. I think it was embarrassing. I think it angered a lot of players, including myself. We put our bodies and minds on the line every time we step on that field, and to use an analogy of inmates in prison, that’s disrespectful. That’s how I feel about it.”
As previously reported, McNair issued a public apology Friday, saying in a statement: “I regret that I used that expression. I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players. 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.”
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