The anthem protest had been one of the biggest storylines of the NFL season. One of the teams at the forefront for all the wrong reasons was the Houston Texans.
Considering the current landscape of citizen relations with law enforcement, the protests do not seem to be ending anytime soon. However, according to Houston Chronicle's Jerome Solomon, the Texans will approach the offseason looking for players who did not kneel during the anthem:
“There is no directive within the organization, but it is considered to be understood that as desperate as the Texans are to bring in talent, the pool of potential signees and draftees will not include anyone who has participated in protests or are likely to,” Solomon wrote after speaking to two NFL agents about the issue.
While the news may be a bit shocking, it certainly is not a surprising move from the Texans' front office. Team owner Bob McNair caught plenty of flak when he made the derogatory comparison of player protests to “letting inmates run the prison.” He was also among the names listed in Colin Kaepernick's grievance filed last October, which alleged that there was collusion between the NFL and team owners to keep him out of the league.
The writing may have been on the wall for this kind of move after the Texans traded four-time Pro Bowl tackle Duane Brown to the Seattle Seahawks during 2017. Needless to say, the decision is certainly a bold one considering Houston is looking to acquire as much talent as possible.