PAST HIS PRIME

Patrick Creighton: It’s time for Bob McNair to ride off into the sunset

Patrick Creighton: It’s time for Bob McNair to ride off into the sunset
Bob McNair continues to make bad comments. Bob Levey/Getty Images

It’s almost like a really bad film is being made on the self-destruction of Texans owner Bob McNair and we are all extras in it.

Bob McNair made his fortune in the city of Houston, became a member of the Texas Business Hall of Fame, and is a noted philanthropist who has founded the Robert & Janice McNair Foundation, and the Robert & Janice McNair Educational Foundation.  McNair has been on the Board of Trustees of Rice University, Baylor College of Medicine, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Grand Opera, and more.

Bob McNair is also the man most responsible for the return of the NFL to Houston.

Unfortunately, it’s his involvement as owner of the NFL team that is causing him to come unraveled right before our eyes.

In his latest media faux pas, Bob McNair actually recanted his apology from October of last year.  

“The main thing I regret is apologizing,” McNair told the Wall Street Journal.  “I really didn’t have anything to apologize for.”

Clearly McNair just doesn’t get it.  His apology to his own team fell flat on the players. Johnathan Joseph even said so.   His insistence that he was really referring to the NFL league office and not the players with his comment about “inmates running the prison”is believed by no one but the man Bob McNair sees in the mirror each day, and that could be debatable.

After all, if McNair was really referring to the boys at 345 Park Ave, NYC, as the inmates, why give the man who would have to be considered the lead inmate – Roger Goodell – a new 5 year, $200M contract extension 18 months early?  Bob McNair was a member of the six man Compensation Committee that green lit the deal, and did so a week before the December owners’ meetings in Irving, Texas that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was supposed to get the floor at to discuss slowing down the process on that extension.

Does it make sense that a man would give a $200M contract to someone he feels is an inmate trying to run his prison?

McNair also went out of his way to call Duane Brown a liar, and in the process only gave further evidence that the reason the team would not negotiate a new deal with Brown and so hastily shipped him off to Seattle last season was because Brown had previously protested racial injustice during an anthem by raising his fist.

McNair denied Brown’s contention that the owner addressed the team following the election of President Obama.  

“I don’t go into meetings and express views like that,” said McNair.  “I never said that. He (Brown) has no problem saying things that are not true.”

Here’s the problem: McNair absolutely had this meeting, and multiple players before and after Duane Brown have confirmed this.  In fact, former Texans TE Owen Daniels appeared on ESPN Houston 97.5 with John Granato, Raheel Ramzanali & Del Olaleye on Thursday and said he was surprised McNair would make such a statement because the meeting did happen, and McNair did address the team about his dismay over the election of President Obama in 2008.

McNair got caught calling Duane Brown a liar, with a lie.

McNair further tried to disparage Brown by blaming his former Pro Bowl left tackle for the team rejecting his apology for the inmates comment.

McNair claimed he “just tried to tell the truth” to his players to help them understand what he truly meant, but that he couldn’t crack the locker room because “all Duane was trying to do was be a troublemaker.”  Brown was traded days later to the Seahawks for draft picks.

He further went on to compare players exercising their expression to a McDonald’s worker handing out burgers and telling people to be vegetarians, because clearly if players weren’t playing football, they’d be flipping burgers.  

Professional sports are unlike any other business, but why the burger joint analogy?  He could have chosen so many other businesses to compare but went for the lowest unskilled worker comparison.  I don’t think that was completely by accident. It falls in line with the idea players should be seen and not heard.  Players should obey and not think.

McNair continues to disservice himself, the team, and the league by continually putting his foot in his mouth to the media.  He’s quickly destroying the good will he’s worked hard to earn in the city he’s made his fame and fortune in.

I really don’t want to see Bob McNair wind up in eternal disgrace, the way his pal Jerry Richardson will (you will recall McNair tried to explain away Richardson’s sexual harassment and racist comments by saying that the Panthers owner was probably just joking).

You’re a very rich man Bob; go enjoy the rest of your life away from the media, away from the scrutiny, on a beach somewhere with Janice being treated like royalty.  Don’t continue to undo your legacy by being out of touch with modern times and social mores.

No one wants to continue to be a part of this film where you self-destruct, Bob.  People want to remember the Bob McNair who returned the NFL to Houston, not the one who was responsible for increased racial tensions between players and owners.

Before it’s too late, Bob, turn the keys over to Cal and ride off into the sunset.  

 

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Yordan Alvarez is still having issues with his hand. Composite Getty Image.

Houston Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez has experienced a setback in his recovery from a broken right hand and will see a specialist.

Astros general manager Dana Brown said Alvarez felt pain when he arrived Tuesday at the team's spring training complex in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he had a workout a day earlier. Alvarez also took batting practice Saturday at Daikin Park.

He will be shut down until he's evaluated by the specialist.

“It’s a tough time going through this with Yordan, but I know that he’s still feeling pain and the soreness in his hand,” Brown said before Tuesday night's series opener at Colorado. “We’re not going to try to push it or force him through anything. We're just going to allow him to heal and get a little bit more answers as to what steps we take next.”

Alvarez has been sidelined for nearly two months. The injury was initially diagnosed as a muscle strain, but when Alvarez felt pain again while hitting in late May, imaging revealed a small fracture.

The 28-year-old outfielder, who has hit 31 homers or more in each of the past four seasons, had been eyeing a return as soon as this weekend at the Los Angeles Dodgers. Now it's uncertain when he'll play.

“We felt like he was close because he had felt so good of late,” Brown said, “but this is certainly news that we didn't want.”

You can watch Brown discuss the setback in the video below.

Also Tuesday, the Astros officially placed shortstop Jeremy Peña on the 10-day injured list with a fractured rib and recalled infielder Shay Whitcomb from Triple-A Sugar Land.

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