Most Texans kneel following owner’s ‘inmates running the prison’ comment
SEATTLE (AP) – All but 10 members of the Houston Texans took a knee during the national anthem Sunday, as the vast majority of the team protested the owner’s “inmates running the prison” comment.
The Texans had indicated there would be some type of protest following the comments by owner Bob McNair.
McNair issued two apologies attempting to explain his comments after a story in ESPN The Magazine revealed that he said “we can’t have the inmates running the prison” during a meeting of NFL owners about players protests.
The entire team took the field about 10 minutes before kickoff. When the anthem started the majority of the active roster (approximately 43 players) took a knee.
It appeared that all of the black players on Houston’s roster took a knee, while at least one white player – Ben Heeney – also knelt.
The players that remained standing were: LB Brian Peters, P Shane Lechler, long snapper Jon Weeks, FB Jay Prosch, T Breno Giacomini, C Nick Martin, C Greg Mancz, TE Ryan Griffin, QB Tom Savage G and G Xavier Su’a-Filo, who is of Samoan decent.
The majority of Seattle’s defensive line continued to sit as it has for most of the season. Before Sunday, very few Texans had been protesting other than on Sept. 24, when 200 players around the league protested following President Donald Trump’s criticism.