Robert “Bob” McNair, owner of the Houston Texans since 1999, died Friday at age 81. The Texans then honored McNair before their Monday Night Football game with the Tennessee Titans.
Houston Texans honor owner Bob McNair, who died at age 81
McNair had owned the team since its inception.
Photo by Thomas B. Shea/Getty Images
The coaching staff wore red ribbons, while the players wore decals with McNair’s initials on their helmets and will continue to do so for the rest of the season. Before kickoff, there was also a moment of silence in McNair’s memory.
The team released a statement about his passing on Friday.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce Houston Texans Founder, Senior Chairman and Chief Executive Officer and philanthropist, Robert C. McNair passed away peacefully in Houston today with his loving wife, Janice, and his family by his side,” the Texans’ statement read.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien and general manager Brian Gaine also offered their condolences, with both saying how much McNair cared about the staff and players.
Other tributes came in from current and former Texans players and from former president George H.W. Bush:
McNair brought the NFL back to Houston after Bud Adams moved the then-Oilers in 1997 to Tennessee, where they became the Titans. Adams cited the inability to get a new stadium built, but McNair worked with city officials on what became Reliant Stadium and is now NRG Stadium. The Texans joined the NFL in 2002 as an expansion team.
“His leadership and determination brought the NFL back to Houston, built a magnificent stadium that hosted two Super Bowls, and his beloved Texans are in the midst of another successful season and are again contending for a place in the postseason,” NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement.
“But above all, Bob was a family man. I extend my heartfelt condolences to Janice, their family, the Texans, and the entire Houston community.”
In recent years, McNair had run into controversy. He gave money and later withdrew the donation, to a campaign that was working against Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance. At last fall’s owners meeting, he said the NFL can’t have “inmates running the prison” when the topic became about protests during the national anthem. McNair apologized after facing backlash from the players, but he later said he regretted the apology.
The Texans’ statement noted that McNair and his foundations had donated more than $500 million in his lifetime, including $1 million to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts last year.
Although a cause of death was not given, McNair had battled skin cancer in recent years. His son Cal, who is the chairman and chief operating officer of the Texans, is expected to take over for his father, according the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain.
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