Houston lawmakers respond to Texans owner Bob McNair's 'inmate' comment

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Houston-area lawmakers and civil rights leaders on Friday slammed comments made by Houston Texans owner Robert McNair in which he said the NFL "can't have the inmates running the prison" when discussing ongoing protests by players.

Leaders also said they were against a proposed statue of the Texans owner to be built at NRG Stadium.

They also said McNair's comments were not an isolated incident, but a part of a long-ongoing treatment of African American athletes as "commodities."

"This does not go to the Texans only," said Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, citing her work with the NFL on concussions and anti-trust issues. "It troubles me that for all that period of time, the owners considered these young men something less than human beings. It troubles me that they are in fact a commodity."

Texans owner Bob McNair apologized today for saying "We can't have the inmates running the prison" during a closed-door NFL meeting Oct. 12.

"I regret that I used that expression," McNair said in statement released on Friday. "I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players. I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally. I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it."

RELATED: Bob McNair apologizes for 'inmates' comment

FILE -In this Dec. 10, 2014 file photo Houston Texans owner Bob McNair speaks at an NFL press conference during an owners meeting, in Irving, Texas. At left is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. McNair has apologized after a report said he declared âwe can't have the inmates running the prisonâ during a meeting of NFL owners over what to do about players who kneel in protest during the national anthem. (AP Photo/Brandon Wade, File) less FILE -In this Dec. 10, 2014 file photo Houston Texans owner Bob McNair speaks at an NFL press conference during an owners meeting, in Irving, Texas. At left is NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. McNair has ... more Photo: Brandon Wade/Associated Press Photo: Brandon Wade/Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Houston lawmakers respond to Texans owner Bob McNair's 'inmate' comment 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Rep. Al Green meanwhile said McNair's comments - and others like it - are indicative of worsening racial discord that he said has been fueled by President Donald Trump.

McNair gave $1 million to Trump's inaugural committee, which received a total $7.5 million from owners of NFL teams, according to public records.

"Mr. McNair is but one symptom of a greater problem," Green said at a press conference held by the Houston chapter of the NAACP. "This president is bringing the level of discourse to a level that is intolerable and unacceptable."

"It's about a president who by his words, deeds and actions has caused people to move toward xenophobia, toward nativism, toward sexism, toward hatred and bigotry," he said before again vowing to bring a vote to impeach the president to the floor of Congress.

Others said they did not accept McNair's apology for his comment, which they said misunderstood the original purpose of protests by NFL players of racial injustice and the killing by police of unarmed African Americans, among other issues.

"NFL players are protesting inequality in our country," Harris County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis said in a statement. "When their employer responds by calling them inmates in a prison, he not only shows why the protests are needed, he shows that he hasn't even thought about the meaning behind their protest."

"It doesn't matter if Bob McNair meant to offend anybody or not, it matters that he chose those words to describe his employees and didn't think about why it would be a problem," Ellis said.

"Going forward, I would encourage him to think a little less about the business impact of President Trump's Twitter insults and more about the inequalities that his own players are protesting."