Texans Players Kneel In Protest To Owner's 'Inmate' Remarks

HOUSTON, TX — Most of the Houston Texans football players knelt in protest to team owner Bob McNair prior to Houston's game in Seattle on Sunday afternoon. The players were highly upset over a comment McNair made earlier in the week at a league meeting in New York in which he said, "We can't have the inmates running the prison."

A the owners meetings in New York earlier this month, McNair made the comment while referring to ongoing player demonstrations during the anthem, according to a report on ESPN.com.

The Texans held a players-only meeting Saturday in Seattle to discuss how they'd demonstrate their anger over McNair's remarks. Texans offensive tackle Duane Brown told ESPN's Josina Anderson on Sunday morning that he anticipated that "up to 65 to 70 percent" of the team's players participation, and he added that the players would not remove the team's decals from their helmets.

McNair, who has owned the Houston Texans franchise since 2002, apologized to the team and franchise both publicly and privately.

The report by ESPN covering the NFL meeting will publish in the Nov. 13 issue. Also on Saturday, ESPN reported that a "coalition of NFL players extended an invitation to McNair, commissioner Roger Goodell and unsigned quarterback Colin Kaepernick to a Monday meeting in Philadelphia at which they hope to address players' "immediate concerns before additional progress can be made.""

Top image: Houston Texans players kneel and stand during the singing of the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear)