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Texans Owner: I Regret Apologizing For ‘Inmates Running Prison’ Comment

(Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

Katie Jerkovich Entertainment Reporter
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Houston Texans owner Bob McNair says he now regrets apologizing for the comment he made last fall about NFL national anthem protesters, according to the Wall Street Journal Thursday.

“The main thing I regret is apologizing,” McNair explained.

McNair was quoted as telling other NFL owners that “we can’t have the inmates running the prison.”

He said he wasn’t talking about the players but league executives who he thought were exerting more control over the matter than the owners. “I really didn’t have anything to apologize for,” McNair said. (RELATED: Houston Texans Owner Apologizes For National Anthem Protest Comments)

Houston Texans v Seattle Seahawks

Members of the Houston Texans stand and kneel before the game against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on October 29, 2017 in Seattle. Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images

“In business, it’s a common expression. But the general public doesn’t understand it, perhaps,” he added.

It only took a few hours for the Texans owner to walk back the comments on social media, stating that he wasn’t talking about the players.

“I regret I used that expression. I never meant to hurt anyone and I was not referring to our players. I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally,” a statement from Robert McNair read at the time. “I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it.”

In the Wall Street Journal report, McNair also denied rumors that he planned to keep the Texans from signing players who kneeled.