NFL Owner On Protests: "We Can’t Have The Inmates Running The Prison"

During a meeting to address the NFL players protesting during the national anthem, the owner of the Houston Texans said something that really upset players. Cenk Uygur, John Iadarola, Francesca Fiorentini, and Judah Friedlander, the hosts of The Young Turks, explain the fallout from his comments.

HOUSTON -- Some Texans players considered staging a walkout following a comment by team owner Bob McNair that compared NFL players to "inmates," a source told ESPN.

About 10 players, including Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, left the facility Friday, the source said. Sources told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Hopkins' absence from practice was directly related to McNair's comment. Running back D'Onta Foreman also did not practice over the quote, sources told ESPN.

Most of the players who left returned to the facility, the source said, and the remaining players were talked out of their protest by the coaching staff. "When it happened, there's a thousand emotions going through your mind," left tackle Duane Brown said. "Obviously, one of the emotions is to leave the building immediately. [But] we decided to go to work. The situation's not over. It's something that we'll reconvene and talk about again, but we had practice today."

Texans coach Bill O'Brien said Hopkins had taken a "personal day." "I'm 100 percent with these players," O'Brien said. "I love these players, I love this coaching staff. We will show up in Seattle and play. We will play very hard. Seattle is a great football team with a great coaching staff. But we will be there when the ball is kicked off in Seattle."



http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/21185499/houston-texans-players-considered-walkout-bob-mcnair-comment