(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Bob McNair, the multi-billionaire who owns the Houston Texans, said that the NFL “can’t have the inmates running the prison” in regard to the recent wave of anthem protests.
via ABC:
In a discussion over the business-related backlash of players’ protests, McNair as quoted as saying, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
The expression was made as owners attempted to deal with the protests while being sensitive to their players’ grievances. In the report, McNair, who has gone on record as a million-dollar contributor to President Trump’s campaign, immediately drew offense for the remark by NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent, who played in the league.
“Vincent said that in all his years of playing in the NFL […] he never felt like an ‘inmate,'” the report stated.
The same report also described McNair taking Vincent aside from the meeting to apologize, saying that he felt horrible and that his words weren’t meant to be taken literally.
McNair and the Texans released a statement:
Bob McNair Net Worth 2017: $4 Billion
Bob McNair, the 79-year-old American businessman, philanthropist, and the owner of the Houston Texans, is worth approximately $4 billion.
Bob McNair’s Professional Career
In 1989, Robert McNair and his wife Janice established the Robert and Janice McNair Educational Foundation.
In 1998, the McNairs established the McNair Scholar Program at the University of South Carolina.
McNair founded the cogeneration company Cogen Technologies, which he sold to Enron and CalPERS in 1999 for $1.9 billion. McNair currently retains ownership of power plants in New York and West Virginia.
Determined to bring an NFL franchise back to Houston after the Oilers became the Tenessee Titans, McNair formed Houston NFL Holdings in 1998. On October 6, 1999, the NFL announced that the 32nd NFL franchise had been awarded to McNair for $700 million.
On September 12, 2007, McNair gave $100 million to Baylor College of Medicine to recruit top scientists and physicians.
On January 3, 2014, a group led by McNair made a bid to purchase Reading F.C.
In 2016, McNair donated $4.5 million to Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, the most out of all the NFL owners.
In September 2017, Forbes estimated the value of The Houston Texans, the youngest franchise in the NFL, at $2.8 billion.
