The Houston Texans made a strong statement to owner Bob McNair on Sunday when the vast majority of the team took a knee during the national anthem in protest of McNair’s recent comments about the protests.
McNair had said the NFL can’t let the “inmates run the prison” with regards to players protesting and generally expressing their views on social issues. Those comments unsurprisingly sparked plenty of controversy and criticism from many, including Texans players, who voiced their disapproval with McNair’s choice of metaphor and considered a walkout.
On Monday night, the team held its Halloween party and, as a video obtained by TMZ showed, Texans star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney chose to go dressed as an inmate, which seemingly would be a message sent to McNair that his comments won’t be forgotten anytime soon.
Jadeveon Clowney dressed up as an inmate for Halloween, likely a shot at recent comments made by the Texans owner. pic.twitter.com/BkGrerWxTt
— Jordan Heck (@JordanHeckFF) October 31, 2017
The team’s PR released a statement to the Houston Chronicle insisting Clowney’s choice of costume was a mere coincidence and not meant as a “shot” at anyone.
Houston Texans’ senior director of communications Amy Palcic told Chron.com Tuesday morning that Clowney said there “was no hidden meaning behind his Halloween costume. He was not taking a ‘shot’ at anyone. It was just that – a costume at a Halloween party.”
Yes, I’m sure this was the only costume he could find and after everything that went down this past week, there was nothing more at play here. That seems reasonable and not at all like a desperate effort at damage control from a team’s PR that would very much like this story to go away.
