Houston Texans players kneel and stand during the singing of the national anthem before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Oct. 29, 2017, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
SEATTLE (AP) — All but 10 members of the Houston Texans took a knee during the national anthem Sunday, as the vast majority of the team protested the owner’s “inmates running the prison” comment.
Many #Texans kneel during the National Anthem before today’s game in Seattle pic.twitter.com/R5mwjloy03
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) October 29, 2017
The Texans had indicated there would be some type of protest following the comments by owner Bob McNair.
McNair issued two apologies attempting to explain his comments after a story in ESPN The Magazine revealed that he said “we can’t have the inmates running the prison” during a meeting of NFL owners about players protests.
To #Texans fans who are outraged about players kneeling in peaceful protest—your owner’s comments were okay, but this is what bothered you?🤔
— Neale (@AbeFroman) October 29, 2017
The entire team took the field about 10 minutes before kickoff. When the anthem started the majority of the active roster (approximately 43 players) took a knee.
It appeared that all of the black players on Houston’s roster took a knee, while at least one white player — Ben Heeney — also knelt.
The players that remained standing were: LB Brian Peters, P Shane Lechler, long snapper Jon Weeks, FB Jay Prosch, T Breno Giacomini, C Nick Martin, C Greg Mancz, TE Ryan Griffin, QB Tom Savage G and G Xavier Su’a-Filo, who is of Samoan decent.
Seahawks fans gave a standing ovation to the #Texans players who knelt in response to their racist POS owner. That’s what I call unity.
— Francis Maxwell (@francismmaxwell) October 29, 2017
The majority of Seattle’s defensive line continued to sit as it has for most of the season. Before Sunday, very few Texans had been protesting other than on Sept. 24, when 200 players around the league protested following President Donald Trump’s criticism.
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