(Photo by Torotimes)
I've already covered this. How does this franchise continue to bungle their way into a laughingstock? The third time, man. The THIRD time I have to cover the Houston Texans in a blog. I would like to cover other teams, you know. The first blog detailed what was starting to become a disturbing situation and the second was detailing Bill O'Brien's fall. Instead of me telling you this, check these out on our platforms. Now, it's time for me to rant.
So, Cal McNair was put in a position where his daddy, Bob, was the owner of an NFL franchise and he passed on with Cal taking over. Yep, he's one of those guys. The team has already seen turmoil between coaching staff, upper management and the actual football management. Cal probably saw this and wanted to wash his hands clean of this. Instead, he put more dirt on those hands.
Cal wanted to build the Houston Texans in his image and decided to hand the reins of Executive Vice President of Football Operations to Jack Easterby. I mean, the man probably has experience running an NFL team, right? So, I pan over to do see his credentials as an executive vice president of football operations. He was a chaplain and character coach during his career, but no experience in actual football operations. Wait, what? Cal McNair made an inexperienced man the czar of his football operations. Here's where things get murky.
Amy Palcic was the first woman to lead a public relations department in the NFL as Vice President of Communications for the Texans. Many of her colleagues and media personnel praised her work and professionalism while at the helm. She was unceremoniously fired in November 2020 to what she said that she was not "a cultural fit". As you would guess, those colleagues and media personnel were PISSED when the news of her termination was announced.
Also I like to point out, Cal McNair uses the terms "culture" and "aim to win championships" in his press releases or any function with the press is around. Keep this in mind.
Jamey Rootes was Bob McNair's right-hand man since the team's inaugural season in 2002. As the president of the Texans, he handled the business side of the organization. He probably saw the writing on the wall. McNair wanted Easterby to be his right and Rootes handed in his resignation last week. Sad to see a loyal employee leave due to terms not under his control.
I won't get into the Bill O'Brien debacle. I've already done that. 0-4 start to the season, gets fired from both head coach and GM positions, yadda yadda yadda. The Texans found their GM in Nick Cesario, the director of player personnel for the New England Patriots. They REALLY wanted Cesario to the point where they tried to talk to him while still employed by the Patriots. This is what the sports world calls "tampering" and McNair had to use a GM by committee for a short time. See any red flags there? Also, Easterby was a huge contributor in bringing Cesario to Houston, because Easterby came from.....the New England Patriots. Their blueprint is copying a team that was successful. Yep.
Deshaun Watson, the franchise quarterback for Houston, has enjoyed a successful career to start off with. He solved the problem of a steady signal-caller for the Texans. And despite a torn ACL in his rookie season, Watson would ascend into one of the top quarterbacks in the league. He was handsomely paid by the Texans, signing a four year $160 million deal. Here's the problem, a few months earlier, O'Brien traded Watson's top target and one of the best receivers in the NFL, DeAndre Hopkins. Watson, at times, looked lost without Hopkins and the Texans struggled all season. Then, came the hiring of Cesario. Watson was promised that he would be informed on who the GM was going to be. If you are reading this as an old school football fan and saying "Back in the day, players had no influence on what management did. They just played". This is the NFL these days. Now Deshaun wants out, and out badly. However, both Cesario and McNair have said that he will not be moved and be the team's quarterback in 2021. This could get ugly. Watson was also not informed about the hiring of their new head coach.
Ok, I will not crap on the hiring of David Culley as head coach. He was a surprise selection for the job since everyone thought that Houston would hire Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. Culley is 65 and worked his entire life for the opportunity.
J.J. Watt, the greatest player in franchise history (Sorry, Andre Johnson), continues to inspire people and many of his contemporaries praise his work ethic and charitable heart. This is why when he was released at his request a few days ago, it infuriated me. The man who gave everything he had to Houston. Remember in 2017, Watt raised more than $30 million for the city after Hurricane Harvey hit. For nearly a decade, J.J. Watt was the Houston Texans. Then 2020 came around. One of the deciding factors of Bill O'Brien's ouster was an argument between him and Watt. J.J. also seemed irritated during post-game interviews. After the end of the final game of the season, there was video produced of Watt apologizing to Watson for not getting him more wins during the season. Maybe the writing was on the wall for this split. Clearly, the Texans caused him to leave. (Bleep).
Speaking of Andre Johnson, how does he feel about the Texans right now?
Yikes!
Now,.....the issue with Cal McNair is simple. He wants to run the team different from his late father and seems to be over his head. The hiring of Easterby rubs football people within the organization the wrong way. Easterby preaches about honesty and trust, but all you hear about is lies and mistrust. An article from SI dives deeper into this mess. Also, Cal is the CEO and technically, not the actual owner. That title goes to Cal's mother and Bob's widow, Janice. As you can tell, Janice is notably absent during the whole shebang. Honesty, I don't blame her. She is in her 80's and wants to spend the rest of her remaining life away from stress. Cal will have to do a lot to undo a toxic culture his own family created. But it won't be easy, because of one comment.
"We can't have the inmates run the prison".
Yes, this opened the floodgates for the organization as players wanted to revolt. This will hang over the franchise for a while.
Cal's vision of "aiming to win championships" seems laughable considering they had a championship contender sitting in their laps a few years ago. His choice to hand over the GM reins to Bill O'Brien was a colossal failure. O'Brien traded players as Jadeveon Clowney and DeAndre Hopkins for little value. He handcuffed the team by swapping two first-round picks to Miami for Laremy Tunsil, which could have been beneficial since the Texans went 4-12 and clinched the third pick in the draft....for the Dolphins. Now with Watt gone and Watson looking to be moved, Houston is in a world of hurt.
At least, Mark Davis is trying to make the Raiders profitable by moving them to Las Vegas. At least, Jim Irsay won a Super Bowl championship. At least, Sheila Ford Hemp is starting from scratch by placing the right people to handle football operations. At least, Michael Bidwell has let his football people do the football business while he does the actual business. Cal McNair is basically telling the world that his late father's way of running an NFL franchise isn't with the times. However, he is alienating everyone by continuing thinking that he knows what he's doing without having any proof of success to show for it. He has been scorned by local and national media alike. Cal wants you to think that he is the babyface in this situation, but he is definitely the heel. He makes the Houston Astros seem sympathetic. Yep.
He wants to make change to the "culture" and "aim to win championships". So far, he has a long, long way to go. Now, I hope this is the last time I have to cover the Houston Texans. It probably isn't.
(Sources: Houston Chronicle, SI, Bleacher Report, Fansided, Wikipedia, NFL.com)
(For more content check out our Facebook page, our website @www.realsportsaz.com and the Wix mobile app)
Comentários