00:00You're in the loop here on Sports Radio 610 and condolences are in order, John Lopez, to the matriarch of
00:05the Houston Texans, Janice McNair.
00:07She passes away yesterday and I mean, you see all of the kind words that are shared by players.
00:13I always wonder at times, like, how much of a relationship do players have with ownership groups and people at
00:19that level?
00:20Because I mean, it's a few levels of magnitude away from what they do on a day-to-day basis.
00:25So many players from CJ Stroud on his Instagram to, I know, Andre Johnson had comments to, I mean, like,
00:32name them.
00:33There was a lot of guys who played for this team.
00:35Justin Reed was talking about it, yeah, who had their comments.
00:38I'm interested from your perspective, like, one, what was your mindset when you saw that she passed?
00:44And two, like, what experiences, if any, do you have that you thought of?
00:48Yeah, look, certain, as you mentioned, certain owners, a little bit of a distance, particularly maybe the spouse that is
00:56not as active on a day-to-day operation.
01:00You know, a little bit of distance there.
01:02That's not the case with Janice McNair.
01:03It's flat out not the case.
01:05She was not, like, involved in terms of day-to-day football operations.
01:10Right.
01:11But involved in, I am there.
01:13They should erect a memorial or a plaque or something where she had her tent.
01:19I mean, at training camp, they had a tent specifically for her.
01:23With the A.C., yeah.
01:23And in the later years, they put A.C. in there.
01:25Yeah.
01:26So she could sit in her wheelchair and watch them practice, and they would all go over there and, you
01:31know, pat her on the shoulder or say a few words, and she'd talk to them.
01:35And so this was very, very much, a lot of people, it's weird, like a lady.
01:41She was a lady, you know, like, there's certain ones, certain women that you say, that is a lady right
01:46there.
01:46And I think everybody recognized that.
01:49I did have, you know, fortunate enough to have, you know, several interactions with her, honored to have nominated her
01:55for the, you know, Houston Sports Award.
01:57That's right.
01:58I forgot about that.
01:58Yeah.
01:59And so I was very honored to nominate her and glad she won it before her passing.
02:05And I go back to the very, very early stages.
02:08We're talking, you know, 1999, 2000, 2001, when the Bob McNair was, came out of nowhere to initiate this crazy
02:20idea when everybody's saying the next NFL expansion franchise is going to be going to L.A.
02:27Lock it up.
02:27It's a wrap.
02:28They're going to L.A.
02:29Right.
02:29And Bob McNair came in and said, you know, hold on, I'm interested in bringing one to Houston.
02:37I want this to be very, very clear.
02:40This franchise is not here without Janice McNair.
02:44She was that much a part of that whole decision, including what really sort of put the Texans bid over
02:52the top.
02:54A lot of these organizations were putting together financing packages and such.
02:59Bob McNair came in and said, I'll give you $700 million cash.
03:05We'll give you $700 million.
03:07Keep in mind, this is 2000, 2001.
03:09That's right.
03:09I'll give you $700 million cash.
03:12That's part of my deal.
03:14And you think that happens without Janice McNair intimately involved?
03:17Yeah, no, I don't think you just come up with all that, all that, yeah.
03:21Hey, a lot of men can't make any moves without running past their old lady.
03:25You said you bought a Mike Tyson signed glove.
03:28And I'm not happy about it.
03:29And I'm not happy about it.
03:29And I'm still getting the earful for that, man.
03:30Still getting the earful for that.
03:31Yeah, so that's my point about how integral Janice McNair, clearly Bob McNair, I mean, point man, doing all the,
03:38you know, the moving and shaking.
03:40The Texans are not here without Janice McNair, period.
03:44And then once they're here, the thing that just resonates with me is a lot of these organizations are very
03:52much, you know, we want to be involved in the community.
03:54Yeah.
03:54You know, we want to do this and that.
03:57I think the Texans are next level in terms of being involved in the community because of Janice McNair.
04:02That was her pet project, right?
04:04That was her deal.
04:04I know that, and you'll see this on all the graphics that the Texans have put out, including the acknowledge
04:13words, the kind words that have come, whether it's the commissioner or any other dignitaries or so on and so
04:18forth.
04:19It's faith, it's family, philanthropy, football.
04:23Like you hear the three Fs, faith, family, football, like a lot of people.
04:26Philanthropy has to be in there, even though it's a PH.
04:28But that's because Janice was like, no, this is integral to who we are and what we do.
04:32And it shows up.
04:33Like, it's not nothing.
04:34It's not just lip service.
04:35And that is because Janice McNair made it so.
04:37I mean, this, as some level of eulogy, is just not enough, clearly.
04:44But obviously, condolences to the McNair family, to all those who were able to, you know, obviously spend time with
04:51her.
04:51Is there anything that will change with Janice not actively, physically being with the team?
04:56Obviously, the spirit, her spirit lives on through her family and everybody in the organization.
04:59Well, this is one that, you know, just simply needs to be at least thought about, right?
05:07You know, behind the scenes, you know, clearly Cal McNair has been the primary principal owner since 2024.
05:17But remember how that all came about.
05:20Cal McNair had a sibling, at least one, I'm drawing a blank if it was more than one,
05:26who...
05:26There was sides moving.
05:28I don't know if you watch, like, Game of Thrones or the act of, like, House of the Dragon right
05:31now,
05:32where political drama is happening and people switch sides.
05:35That has happened.
05:36And I wonder if it is still happening.
05:37Because I do know that we're not fully resolved when it comes to, like, family drama there.
05:41Well, I don't know if we're resolved or not.
05:43But, you know, the one brother basically said she was incapable of making decisions, et cetera, et cetera.
05:49That part was settled.
05:52You know, that she was, in fact, capable of making those decisions.
05:55They didn't have a case there.
05:57And so she transferred principal ownership to Cal McNair in 2024.
06:02The thing that I think, again, I'm not saying it's going to happen, not going to happen, but it needs
06:07to be thought about with a...
06:13This much money involved, I'll put it that way, there are always lawyers.
06:17You don't have to go there.
06:18I think we've all had family where a matriarch or patriarch passes, and now we're fighting over the house.
06:25We're fighting over, like, whatever it is that could be inherent.
06:27That's the word I was looking for.
06:28Right, estate.
06:28These things can get messy, and we've seen that there's already, like, some level of strife, for lack of a
06:33better way of saying it, within the family.
06:36I don't know that it changes when it comes to, like, the passing of ownership.
06:39It feels like the NFL...
06:40Like, I think Cal has enough supporters in the NFL to where this does not actually change hands.
06:46But it could.
06:46Like, not necessarily the changing hands, but we could see things, drama bubble up now that Janice has passed.
06:53I honestly kind of am looking for it.
06:56Not to say that I want it to happen by any means, but I'm looking for it.
06:59I do think that that could happen.
07:00Outside of that, like, I think that the way the organization runs, like, it's very clear that they are keeping
07:05the way that she has wanted this team thing to run in mind,
07:08and I don't think that the actual day-to-day of how this thing runs goes.
07:11I just think that we could see, you know, we could see that Houston Chronicle story pop up where, oh,
07:17here comes the drama that's happening around the team.
07:19No, I agree.
07:20I don't think it'll change anything that, from our perspective, you note.
07:25But behind the scenes, if there is that drama, you know, who knows how it affects certain people, you know,
07:29how it's distracting, whatever.
07:32You know, but the states this large are simply not like, cool, all right, everybody get this, this, that.
07:38No, there's usually attorneys involved, so that's something to just kind of watch.
07:43But overarching is just, I hope the city of Houston realizes that you would not have these Houston Texans the
07:51way they are, or even at all, without Janice McNair.
07:54Oh, this is the 25th anniversary season, you will see a lot of JSM around Reliant Stadium this upcoming year,
08:00believe me, believe you me.
08:02And so, rest in peace to Janice McNair, the matriarch of the Houston Texans.
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