Texans owner Bob McNair dies

The Houston Texans announced on Friday evening that the team's owner, founder, and chairman Robert C. (Bob) McNair has passed away. He was 81 years old. 

McNair is survived by his wife, Janice, and their four children.

McNair amassed his fortune after founding the cogeneration company Cogen Technologies, which eventually grew to become the largest privately-owned cogeneration company in the world. McNair sold the company to Enron in 1999, two years before the Enron scandal. He was also awarded the 32nd NFL franchise in 1999 and the Texans joined the league in 2002. McNair has served as the team's owner for its entire existence.

Both McNair and his team flew under the radar during the early part of his ownership tenure, and his influence seemed to be limited to hosting Super Bowls and chairing the league's finance committee. But McNair became an increasingly controversial figure during recent years, largely due to his political stances and comments on social issues.

He was criticized for contributing $10,000 in 2015 to Campaign for Houston, a political action committee that opposed an ordinance whose aim was to protect Houstonians from discrimination. (Most of the opposition to the ordinance objected to gay and transgender residents receiving protection from discrimination.) Backlash to McNair's contribution was fierce, and McNair retracted his support and requested that his contribution be returned.

A few years later, during an owners' meeting regarding player protests of policy brutality and systemic racism during the national anthem, McNair reportedly stated that, "We can't have the inmates running the prison," seemingly referring to NFL players. Public backlash against McNair was again swift and fierce, and he soon apologized for using the expression, though he claimed he was not referring to the players as "inmates."

Still, multiple Texans players -- including star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins -- planned to walk out of practice in protest in the wake of McNair's comments. Players from around the league ripped McNair publicly and he was forced to meet with the team and explain his position.

About six months after the incident, however, McNair said that he regretted the apology and that he believed, "I really didn't have anything to apologize for." He claimed that "inmates running the prison" is a common expression in business and that the general public simply did not understand that like he did.

McNair largely receded from public view this season as he battled the multiple forms of skin cancer he had dealt with for years. McNair's son, Cal, is the chief operating officer of the Texans and is expected to continue to run the team after his father's passing.