The NBA did away with the term “owner” for the team owners because it was allegedly insensitive to the players they employ. They now call the owners either “Governor of the team” or “alternate Governor.”
This is a direct result for the overly sensitive politically correct culture that has pervaded through American society.
And it was even more obnoxious that this star wide receiver finally admitted he felt “like a slave” due to his owner’s controversial comments towards NFL players.
Houston Texans owner Bob McNair passed away in the middle of the last regular season after his long fifteen year battle with skin cancer.
McNair broke through to success when he founded the cogeneration company Cogen Technologies, which he sold in 1999. And in the same year he was awarded the new franchise rights to the Houston Texans and they made their NFL debut in 2002.
McNair stirred controversy two years ago when he said during a meeting between NFL players, team owners and league executives in the wake of the anthem protests that were rampant that season.
He allegedly said in the meeting, “We can’t have the inmates running the prison.” Of course, this idiom offended many players because they assumed McNair thought of them as “inmates.”
The only problem with that analysis is most of them didn’t realize that he was saying a famous colloquialism but just said it wrong. The actual idiom is “we can’t have the inmates running the asylum.” Most called him racist but it was clearly a slip of the tongue.
Players of the Houston, Texans were furious with the comment he made including his star wide out DeAndre Hopkins who walked out of the facility when it occurred.
Two years later, Hopkins opened up about it in a recent interview with GQ magazine interview saying at that time he felt “like a slave.”
Recalling how infuriated he was, Hopkins said, “I went home. I ain’t going to practice today. Hell no. I was about to not play in the game. It feels like I’m a slave again. Getting ran over. Listen to the master, go to work.”
The fact that Hopkins said, “it feels like I’m a slave again” is perplexing. At one point in his life was Hopkins a slave? He said “again” as if it happened before but perhaps he misspoke much like what his belated owner McNair said.
Hopkins did however empathize with his owner after revealing how he felt.
He added, “But I took into consideration that he was older. RIP, his soul. He was a good man, but some people they don’t really. When you grow up certain places, you talk a certain way. I try to take into consideration that he’s done a lot of good for black people, so sh-t, you can’t take nothing away from that.”
At least he has the wherewithal to say something that is at the very least understanding that maybe his owner wasn’t intentionally being racist. He probably wasn’t being racist but when you misuse a colloquial idiom in that way, you should be aware of its origin and make a valued analysis of what was intended.
The players were so furious at the time that the team planned to do a team protest where options included; kneeling, peeling the Texans decal off their helmets, raising fists much like the 1968 Olympic team infamously did, or staying in the locker room during the anthem. It never materialized and that could be because McNair issued a statement.
Statement from Texans Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert C. McNair: pic.twitter.com/EXdwKZ4y4x
— Texans PR (@TexansPR) October 27, 2017
The main takeaway everyone should have is to not overreact to everything. Take a step back and breathe before you become outraged.