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Did the Texans know about discriminatory firings, and hope no one would notice?

Did the Texans know about discriminatory firings, and hope no one would notice?
Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images

*Editor's note:

The original headline on this story has changed and the intention of the headline was not to assume or state that the Texans had any knowledge of any discriminatory firings.

Wednesday was a busy day for the Texans. Not only were they served with tampering charges from Patriots over contact with their top choice to be their new GM in Nick Caserio, but they also got served with a discrimination complaint against their former GM, Brian Gaine.

Former Texans staffer Jeff Pope alleged to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission he was fired unjustly on Friday – which happened to be Gaine's last day as well (sources agreed Gaine's firing had absolutely zero to do with the alleged discriminatory practices). The complaint went on to state that Gaine had created a hostile work environment towards African-Americans and that his firing was just one in a long line of terminations of African-American employees replaced by white males.

According to sources, Gaine knew exactly what he was doing with all of these terminations, and so did Texans head coach Bill O'Brien. The two had been discussing the issue as far back as last year.

Both agreed that it "looked bad", according to the sources, and they hoped no one would notice. The two also had hoped that the hiring of CJ Leak as Assistant Director of Pro Scouting would be enough of a deterrent to anyone thinking that the front office was acting in a discriminatory fashion.

Leak was a combine scout for the Saints prior to joining the Texans, and combine scout to assistant director of pro scouting is a major leap up the ranks (imagine hiring another team's Assistant Linebackers Coach as your new Defensive Coordinator). While the sources spoke highly of Leak as a scout, they agreed race was likely a factor in the decision because both Gaine and O'Brien were overly conscious of perception of all the terminated African-American staffers, none of whom were replaced by other minorities.

Perhaps the biggest unjust firing, according to the sources, was that of assistant director of college scouting Mike Martin, who was terminated a few months after Gaine took over as GM. Martin was one of the first hires made by former GM Rick Smith when he took over, and was highly regarded as a scout.

Martin is noted for being the scout who convinced the Texans to sign Arian Foster and AJ Bouye as undrafted free agents. He is also the scout who made the recommendations of Duane Brown, DeAndre Hopkins, and Jadeveon Clowney. Martin was a big advocate for the team choosing Clowney over Blake Bortles.

Martin was also a big proponent of Deshaun Watson, and was the man who scouted Benardrick McKinney and Kareem Jackson.

None of that sounds like the resume of a guy you want to fire, does it?

It seems like the biggest red X he had was that he was hired by Rick Smith. Perhaps that was all he needed.

Sources indicated that O'Brien and Gaine worked collaboratively on these terminations (they were in "alignment") because one of the most important issues to O'Brien was to get rid of anyone that he thought was a "Rick Smith guy" and replace them with "his guys". Whether or not a staffer was good at their job was not important, just who hired them was (and perhaps the color of their skin as well).

The sources also indicated that former assistant GM Jimmy Raye III was terminated because he was the guy Rick Smith hired to replace Gaine when Gaine left the Texans to become the VP of Player Personnel in Buffalo.

Being African-American and hired by Rick Smith were the two biggest reasons people were getting terminated. It's the perfect intersection where discrimination meets pettiness.

It's also where the two most powerful people in the Texans organization whose last names aren't McNair sat down, broke bread, and deliberately turned a blind eye to a practice they knew "looked bad" and was wrong.

They hoped no one would notice. Now they may find themselves under a microscope.



Patrick Creighton is the host of "Late Hits" weeknights 7-9p on ESPN 97.5 Houston. Follow him on Twitter: @PCreighton1

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The Texans will look to get back on track this Sunday against the Colts. Composite Getty Image.

C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans are looking for answers after their passing game couldn’t get going in a loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Houston’s passing attack had been a strength all season, and the Texans ranked fifth in yards passing per game through their first six games. But on Sunday at Lambeau Field, Stroud was limited to a career-low 86 yards in the 24-22 loss, which snapped a three-game winning streak.

Stroud was 10 of 21 and didn’t have a touchdown pass for the first time this season. The second-year player was under duress for much of the day and was sacked four times and hit seven other times.

“We have to go back to the drawing board and see what those issues were,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “As we watch the film, we’ll see what happened, starting for me the communication and just guys being on the details of the job.”

The Texans scored a season-high 41 points in a win over New England a week earlier in which Stroud threw a season-best three touchdown passes despite being without star receiver Nico Collins.

They were unable to replicate that success Sunday with Collins out for the second of at least four games after a hamstring injury landed him on injured reserve.

Stefon Diggs led the team with five receptions against the Packers, but they only amounted to 23 yards. Tank Dell, who the Texans expected to step up with Collins out, was targeted four times but didn’t have a catch.

Stroud discussed the importance of getting Dell more involved in the offense.

“We have to find a way to try and get him the rock early and often and then go from there,” he said. “It has to be a focus for us, not only just him, but the whole offense clicking early. That is really my job to get the ball out on time and to where it is supposed to go. So yeah, that definitely has to be fixed.”

Ryans spoke about his confidence is getting Dell going.

What's working

The Texans have forced seven turnovers combined in their last two games after they hadn’t caused any in their previous three games.

Houston scored 16 points off three turnovers Sunday. The Texans had two interceptions and recovered a fumble on a punt. In their win over the Patriots, they scored 17 points off a season-high four turnovers.

What needs help

The Texans won’t get to where they want to be this season if Stroud doesn’t get back on track. Before Sunday, last year’s AP Offensive Rookie of the Year was averaging more than 262 yards passing a game, giving the team confidence that the problems in the passing game are fixable.

Ryans knows the line must give Stroud more time to throw and said the coaching staff will focus on improving in that area this week.

Stock up

RB Joe Mixon continued to shine Sunday in his second game back after missing three games with an ankle injury. Mixon, who is in his first season in Houston after a trade from Cincinnati, had 25 carries for 115 yards and two touchdowns against Green Bay.

Mixon is confident the Texans will rebound this week if they quit making mistakes.

“Does it look I’m worried? I’m not worried at all,” he said. “Like I said, we got a ... good football team. At the end of the day, we are our own worst enemy.”

Stock down

Dell was unable to help Stroud get the passing game going. The second-year player had a solid rookie season with 709 yards receiving and seven touchdowns in 11 games before breaking his leg. But he hasn’t been able to build on that success this year and has just 194 yards receiving with one score in six games.

Injuries

LB Azeez Al-Shaair (knee), LB Henry To’oTo’o (concussion), CB Kamari Lassiter (shoulder) and S Jimmie Ward (groin) all missed Sunday’s game and it’s unclear if any of these starters can return this week.

Key number

3 — Safety Calen Bullock had his third interception Sunday to tie Dunta Robinson and Jumal Rolle for most interceptions by a rookie in franchise history through the first seven games. He leads NFL rookies in interceptions this season and is tied for third-most among all players.

Next steps

The AFC South-leading Texans (5-2) return to division play Sunday when they host the second-place Colts (4-3), who have won two in a row and four of five.

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