Kelly the Dog Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) Highly doubtfull. They posted this to the media as a thinky veiled threat. If they were to walk out im certsin theres contractual language that would hold them acvountable for loss of revenue towards the team in addition to them likely not getting paid. They were more than likely running there mouths. If they were going to do it they would have done it. I would bet you anything, anything, that had nothing to do with it. And if Hopkins didn't skip practice we may never have known about it. I haven't seen one player seek out the press. The press sought out them. The players had a players only meeting and argued amongst themselves whether they should all boycott practice. A bunch of them wanted to. That much we know from media asking players, not players going to the media. It came to be that, we don't know how, the players as a whole decided to go to practice as a team. The only reason this came to light was local Houston reporters noticed Hopkins not practicing. He was the only one apparently that decided not to. When the media asked the team why isn't he there because he wasn't injured the team said personal reasons. A reasonable reposnse and pretty much true. No one at this point seemed to want to make this a big media issue. Adam Schefter, who is one of if not the very best at getting scoops and management and agents and players to talk to him, because he is the man in that field, found out that Hopkins skipped practice in protest. And tweeted it out. There is no inference I know of, and I have tried to follow it closely (knowing our limits to really know the truth) that any player tried to make a big deal out of it. Like most stories. Guys like Schefter and local beat reporters are just doing their jobs. They didn't know why the Texans best player wasn't practicing so it's their duty to find out. Then when Shefter and others digging into the story found out more stuff, we the public learned that a lot of players were pissed, they all or a bunch of them were going to not practice, but they decided by themselves that they would. If anyone here wants to chime in with more info we know from reputable sources please do. As fans we can never be sure even if we read an article from a reliable source. The point is, Hopkins and the Texans didn't make a big deal out of this to gain attention from what I know and what I have been following. The local and national media started following the story and digging in (as is their job) and then we learned more. Will be interesting to see what comes next. Edited October 28, 2017 by Kelly the Dog Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kota Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) Sorry you can't call the people that work for you a bunch of inmates. Race or not it's just not right. Edited October 28, 2017 by kota Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atlbillsfan1975 Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 As someone who works with young people on a daily basis it is difficult. It is sad but I can see both sides of this. I say sad because 10 years ago when I was a younger man myself I would say the players are over reacting. It is just a phrase. words have started wars. Sounds like the owner needs to sit down with the team and talk it out. Ultimately people need to feel heard and respected. If that is done more times than not the situation can be resolved and the relationship moved forward. I hope things get better and the climate in this great country changes for the better. Unfortuntely I feel like there will need to be a huge event for everyone to come together and be unified. These events typically aren't good events. Can't we all just get along? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoBills808 Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 They are? Just what has the NFL done through all of this to appease these " racist" fans of which you speak? It's not uncommon for someone to misstate a commonly used phrase. He screwed up one word. One that might seem fitting to use after the word " inmates". We know what the commonly used saying is; McNair screwed it up. I'd bet if he had said " asylum" some whiny bit@&es would be saying it was insensitive to the mentally ill. So much PC garbage out there. I hope his employees walk out and he doesn't pay them. He owns his business and can say what he wants, just as his players have. I would be on board with this. Have them use their " platform" on their own time, not the league's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALF Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Tony Dungy ✔@TonyDungy I know Bob McNair. I know his heart. I don’t believe he meant it as viewing players as inmates but that’s how piercing this issue has become Kaepernick will never play in the NFL again after getting this mess started. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Be infuriated if you wish, but you are the LABOR. Not the owner of the business. You don't make the rules, or the tough decisions needed in running the business. Players don't care if they offend customers of the league, but get offended at a trite phrase being butchered by an old guy? The owners will decide how to run things. That's just how it is. Amazing that these tough guys are such pansies over a few words. So your boss is allowed to liken you to a prisoner? You guys really have things out of whack. It is not acceptable for a boss to insult his employees in that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMF2006 Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 So your boss is allowed to liken you to a prisoner? You guys really have things out of whack. It is not acceptable for a boss to insult his employees in that way. Might as well as I basically work for the government with the tax rates so high I'd love to have them walk out. Who has more to lose? Players or owners? Wait until the season is over I still have 5 home games and unused tickets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phypon Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Anybody pretending that "Inmates running the prison" is a common phrase (hint: it's "asylum") and that the usage of prison had nothing to do with the players being black needs to do some serious introspection about why they so desperately need to deny the existence of racism in American society Probably the most RIDICULOUS post in this thread yet, and that's saying A LOT!! It seems a lot of people on here have never had a tough boss. I've had a few back in my construction days. Some old salty dogs that would rip you a new one for screwing up or doing something that they didn't want you to do. Could someone please put together a list of insensitive cliches that should be eradicated from our lexicon. I can't keep up with all of this PC crap so this would be very helpful for me (and others I assume). Heck, just the other day I was on the phone with my father. He said, "a chicken on hand is worth it in the bush". Now I don't if that means he has something against chickens, one of the Bush presidents, or maybe it's sexist. He also says, "give it a life" instead of "give it rest". He's always messing sayings like that up. I've heard a lot of people get them wrong. How about, "mute point" instead of "moot point". Some of you really need to wake up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 What negotiation are you referring to?Do you really not know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) Correct. I suppose it's up to the individual to decide if he simply didn't know the phrase or deliberately used 'prison' for 'asylum', and all the possible whathaveyou that entails. Actually, I think the phrase is lunatics running the asylum, as in insane asylum. Obviously, what McNair meant to say, though, was slaves running the plantation. 😀 Edited October 28, 2017 by mannc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted October 28, 2017 Author Share Posted October 28, 2017 Not sure if posted already but this is Duane Browns wife: @devibrown My husband has put his BODY & MIND on the line for your team for 10 YRS & to you he is an inmate. You owe these players RESPECT & support Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phypon Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Not sure if posted already but this is Duane Browns wife: @devibrown My husband has put his BODY & MIND on the line for your team for 10 YRS & to you he is an inmate. You owe these players RESPECT & support Gotta love how players are and their families are running to twitter. Why don't they contact the owner and management directly (if they already haven't) and keep it at that level, you know, professional? Lot of look at me types by the way this is unfolding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxx Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Actually, I think the phrase is lunatics running the asylum, as in insane asylum. Obviously, what McNair meant to say, though, was slaves running the plantation. obviously/ :eyeroll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CommonCents Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Not sure if posted already but this is Duane Browns wife: @devibrown My husband has put his BODY & MIND on the line for your team for 10 YRS & to you he is an inmate. You owe these players RESPECT & support Ooh Duane Brown the team first guy who held out for 3 months and missed 7 games. I bet being sore about not getting that contract he held out for has nothing to do with his outrage over this loose statement. What a **** show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 It's a metaphor. "We can't have the inmates running the prison". Was he calling the team a "prison"? No. It stands to reason, then, that he wasn't calling the players "inmates". Did the players not learn what a metaphor is in all of their years of elementary, secondary, and higher levels of education? Ridiculous. Besides the terrible metaphor chosen for a social justice demonstration do you ever want your boss talking about you like that in public? Its flat disrespectful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaggersEOD Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) I wonder if white guys on the internet could stop telling us how black people think. Probably right after Black People stop telling white people what they really mean when they say something. Edited October 28, 2017 by DaggersEOD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yall Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) Besides the terrible metaphor chosen for a social justice demonstration do you ever want your boss talking about you like that in public? Its flat disrespectful To be fair it wasn't in public but rather during a closed door meeting. Probably no different that what any exec says in the board room about any union. edit: please note that isn't commentary on it being appropriate or not, rather just noting I don't believe it to be outside the norm. Edited October 28, 2017 by yall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted October 28, 2017 Author Share Posted October 28, 2017 Texans will meet as a team in Seattle to discuss McNair comments further https://t.co/zgX0GHj8mB?amp=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 In my line of work, I deal with a lot of disciplinary/HR issues (I have no onsite HR) and, at one time, nearly half of my staff of 60 was African American. We had multiple issues with several employees, but there was one who was cleverly taking advantage of policies - in a way where it made it difficult to discipline her. This employee is an African American female. One day, as I was discussing these issues with my supervisory team, I wanted to make a point -basically, "look, we know what she's doing, we know she's getting one over on us, and we know she's just a bad seed and we need to get her out of here." On the tip of my tongue was the phrase, "we need to call a spade a spade." I stopped myself because I knew that those words could be twisted and used against me somehow. That's sad. Similar to "letting the inmates run the asylum/prison, " it is a figure of speech that has ZERO racial undertones. Most know that I'm one of the more left-leaning users on this site and I do believe there is an enormous race issue in this country - specifically impacting African Americans. But come on ... this is complete bullshcit and an incredibly far, unnecessary, reach. Let these idiots walk and void their contracts for job abandonment, I say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
26CornerBlitz Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 @AaronWilson_NFL Texans owner Bob McNair's meeting with the team this morning comes one day after the 'inmates running the prison' comments surfaced Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chicken Boo Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Damn. I feel like freedom of speech not being the same as freedom of consequences shouldn't be hard for people to understand. Kneel and it may have adverse consequences. Equate NFL players to criminals, it may have adverse consequences. You're free to say and do anything you want; it doesn't mean you're free of any problems that it may create. Understand now? Bingo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted October 28, 2017 Author Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) @mikegarafolo Following a meeting between McNair and the players this morning, John reports. . @mcclain_on_nfl OT Duane Brown blasted McNair for his comment. WR DeAndre Hopkins and rookie RB D'Onta Foreman left the facility in anger. Edited October 28, 2017 by YoloinOhio Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Damn. I feel like freedom of speech not being the same as freedom of consequences shouldn't be hard for people to understand. Kneel and it may have adverse consequences. Equate NFL players to criminals, it may have adverse consequences. You're free to say and do anything you want; it doesn't mean you're free of any problems that it may create. Understand now? Very well said. Amazing how many people don't understand this basic concept of what "free speech" really means. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_with_it Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 I would bet you anything, anything, that had nothing to do with it. And if Hopkins didn't skip practice we may never have known about it. I haven't seen one player seek out the press. The press sought out them. The players had a players only meeting and argued amongst themselves whether they should all boycott practice. A bunch of them wanted to. That much we know from media asking players, not players going to the media. It came to be that, we don't know how, the players as a whole decided to go to practice as a team. The only reason this came to light was local Houston reporters noticed Hopkins not practicing. He was the only one apparently that decided not to. When the media asked the team why isn't he there because he wasn't injured the team said personal reasons. A reasonable reposnse and pretty much true. No one at this point seemed to want to make this a big media issue. Adam Schefter, who is one of if not the very best at getting scoops and management and agents and players to talk to him, because he is the man in that field, found out that Hopkins skipped practice in protest. And tweeted it out. There is no inference I know of, and I have tried to follow it closely (knowing our limits to really know the truth) that any player tried to make a big deal out of it. Like most stories. Guys like Schefter and local beat reporters are just doing their jobs. They didn't know why the Texans best player wasn't practicing so it's their duty to find out. Then when Shefter and others digging into the story found out more stuff, we the public learned that a lot of players were pissed, they all or a bunch of them were going to not practice, but they decided by themselves that they would. If anyone here wants to chime in with more info we know from reputable sources please do. As fans we can never be sure even if we read an article from a reliable source. The point is, Hopkins and the Texans didn't make a big deal out of this to gain attention from what I know and what I have been following. The local and national media started following the story and digging in (as is their job) and then we learned more. Will be interesting to see what comes next. They absolutely had to know it would make the media.To believe an NFL organization that doesnt have stuff like this make the media is naïveté. This is exactly why they stated it. Same thing with the kneeling, they knew sooner or later the media would make a big deal about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedboy7 Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 ahhhh some good old racism for Sat morning. Welcome to the new America!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookie Man Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 I always thought that was just a figure of speech. I remember this was mentioned with Rex Ryan coached teams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sig1Hunter Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Besides the terrible metaphor chosen for a social justice demonstration do you ever want your boss talking about you like that in public? Its flat disrespectful I'm a grown man, I can take it. Of this, I am confident. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 In my line of work, I deal with a lot of disciplinary/HR issues (I have no onsite HR) and, at one time, nearly half of my staff of 60 was African American. We had multiple issues with several employees, but there was one who was cleverly taking advantage of policies - in a way where it made it difficult to discipline her. This employee is an African American female. One day, as I was discussing these issues with my supervisory team, I wanted to make a point -basically, "look, we know what she's doing, we know she's getting one over on us, and we know she's just a bad seed and we need to get her out of here." On the tip of my tongue was the phrase, "we need to call a spade a spade." I stopped myself because I knew that those words could be twisted and used against me somehow. That's sad. Similar to "letting the inmates run the asylum/prison, " it is a figure of speech that has ZERO racial undertones. Most know that I'm one of the more left-leaning users on this site and I do believe there is an enormous race issue in this country - specifically impacting African Americans. But come on ... this is complete bullshcit and an incredibly far, unnecessary, reach. Let these idiots walk and void their contracts for job abandonment, I say. This is a good post, but I think you might feel differently if you were a black male who grew up in the south, where black males have comprised a scandalously and disproportionately high percentage of the prison population and the wardens have been overwhelmingly white (not to mention the slave/plantation undertones of the comment). And of course the comment was made in a meeting held to discuss how to address the black players protests related to racial injustice. At any rate, its not really up to you to decide what comments by McNair (a huge contributor to the Trump campaign) should bother DeAndre Hawkins. McNair is an idiot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 This is a good post, but I think you might feel differently if you were a black male who grew up in the south, where black males have comprised a scandalously and disproportionately high percentage of the prison population and the wardens have been overwhelmingly white (not to mention the slave/plantation undertones of the comment). And of course the comment was made in a meeting held to discuss how to address the black players protests related to racial injustice. At any rate, its not really up to you to decide what comments by McNair (a huge contributor to the Trump campaign) should bother DeAndre Hawkins. McNair is an idiot. I wasn't deciding. I was opining. And I think this is another case of a person looking for something to get pissed about, then putting out the rally cry. Knowing this would likely happy, I'll agree that McNair is an idiot for not choosing his words more carefully; but I think Hawkins is creating an issue out of a non-issue and it's not good for anyone. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
entropyrules Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 (edited) Okay. So race is a hot button issue right now. Seems like folks are more comfortable lately voicing "controversial" opinions, and also folks are uber sensitive to such comments as well. I'm not trying to get all political here at all. I don't know if McNair is a racist or not. What I do know is that he made a not so smart comment at a really bad time. I don't think the saying "we can't have the inmates running the prison" is racist, necessarily. I have heard it used at work (in schools) referring to classroom/school discipline. I think the Texans have something good going. Houston has also been devastated by tragedy. I hope this doesn't ruin their season. The problem is not the saying itself (as you pointed out its pretty commonly used in a number of workplaces).... its the attitude that somehow if you own or run a company the employees are nothing more than chattel to do as you beckon....from a management perspective that's a horrible way to run a company (how many of you would like your bosses to treat you like a piece of furniture?) I've had several bosses like that and thank god I have a unique skill set and could move on ... on a side and maybe irrelevant note one of the bosses was black and a former NFL football player (marginal - Dallas Cowboy LB back when they had taxi squads which he was on)... he was a guy with some deep seated resentment issues toward highly technical, smart white guys - he himself was very smart but in a different way-HR guy so not swift in Physics, etc but he really could maneuver through the political landmines of a University environment...I don't resent his bias (only the wasting of two years of my life working for him) and actually feel sorry for how his prejudices caused him to create a toxic work environment for his employees Edited October 28, 2017 by entropyrules Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Gotta love how players are and their families are running to twitter. Why don't they contact the owner and management directly (if they already haven't) and keep it at that level, you know, professional? Lot of look at me types by the way this is unfolding. because they are look at me little dancing bitches. McNair plays the music. These guys dance to his beat or gtfo It's really that simple. Besides the terrible metaphor chosen for a social justice demonstration do you ever want your boss talking about you like that in public? Its flat disrespectfulI want my boss talking about it as much as my colleagues. People need to work at work, both sides should shut up and do what they're paid to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackOrton Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Besides the terrible metaphor chosen for a social justice demonstration do you ever want your boss talking about you like that in public? Its flat disrespectful Was it in public or behind closed doors? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Was it in public or behind closed doors?It was in a meeting with player representatives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 This is a good post, but I think you might feel differently if you were a black male who grew up in the south, where black males have comprised a scandalously and disproportionately high percentage of the prison population and the wardens have been overwhelmingly white (not to mention the slave/plantation undertones of the comment). And of course the comment was made in a meeting held to discuss how to address the black players protests related to racial injustice. At any rate, its not really up to you to decide what comments by McNair (a huge contributor to the Trump campaign) should bother DeAndre Hawkins. McNair is an idiot. Black males commit a scandalous and disproportionate amount of crime. You're making statements about a lack of equality in outcome and attributing a lack of equity, which in reality doesn't exist. As an example, New York City's "Stop and Frisk" program actually under sampled blacks based on crime data. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackOrton Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 It was in a meeting with player representatives. So, behind closed doors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 Black males commit a scandalous and disproportionate amount of crime. You're making statements about a lack of equality in outcome and attributing a lack of equity, which in reality doesn't exist. As an example, New York City's "Stop and Frisk" program actually under sampled blacks based on crime data. now this post will either A) be ignored because they know they cannot win with you B) argue with you and get their ass kicked. Eager to see the idiot who wants to try and argue you. It's not as easy to argue you because eyou actually argue while I just poke nests! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mannc Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 So, behind closed doors.But in no sense private or confidential now this post will either A) be ignored because they know they cannot win with you B) argue with you and get their ass kicked. Eager to see the idiot who wants to try and argue you. It's not as easy to argue you because eyou actually argue while I just poke nests! Yeah, hard to argue with genius-level Breitbart talking points like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMF2006 Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 I thought they (Texans)might/should win that division . The Jags must be smiling with glee at them imploding. Can they recover from all this butt hurt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 It's too bad he didn't say "We can't have the slaves running the plantation." That would have made the walkout more ironic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMF2006 Posted October 28, 2017 Share Posted October 28, 2017 It's too bad he didn't say "We can't have the slaves running the plantation." That would have made the walkout more ironic. If he said that he would have to sell the team,that would be way over the top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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