Football Why Bob McNair is the worst NFL owner in history

oaklandhater · 10-13-2015, 04:38 PM

http://www.houstonpress.com/news/why...istory-7839734

the Houston Texans, we are often told, are the ideal franchise. The owner doesn’t interfere with the coach or the general manager. The players are paid well and treated as professionals. The team goes out of its way to ignore any player with a troubled history. It’s an organization of which all Houstonians should be proud.

This is all because of Bob McNair, a man treated by many as a saint. The man who brought football back to Houston. A man who wants to win the right way. He’s loyal to the men he hires — only two general managers and only three head coaches in the history of the franchise. His decisions are calculated and not triggered by emotion. The Texans are the ideal, and all the NFL should do things the way McNair does.

No owner in the history of Houston sports has accomplished less with his franchise than Bob McNair. Yet no owner in the history of Houston sports is less criticized than McNair. Who cares if his teams don’t win? It’s not McNair’s fault. He saved football in Houston. He puts smart people in charge of the team. He leaves them alone.

But in 14 seasons, McNair’s Texans have won just 89 games against 124 losses. There are only two playoff seasons, only four winning seasons in those 14 seasons. Can you imagine the treatment Bud Adams would have received from the Houston media if the Oilers had accomplished so little? The Oilers wouldn't be praised as the ideal model. The Oilers would be mocked as a train wreck run by an owner concerned only with making money. There’d be no praise for passing on players with troubled backgrounds; instead, there’d be loud criticism for Adams being willing to stick with unproven players like Alfred Blue instead of taking a chance on a proven veteran like Ray Rice.

Bud Adams is perhaps the most reviled franchise owner in Houston sports history. He’s the guy who blackmailed Harris County into destroying the Astrodome, and the guy who attempted to blackmail the city into building him a downtown domed stadium, then taking his team and splitting for Nashville when he was told no. Adams was mocked endlessly as caring only about money, and for interfering too much with the coaches and general managers. He’s the guy who fired Bum Phillips. The guy who dumped Earl Campbell and Warren Moon.

But Adams actually hired legitimately smart, accomplished people to run his teams. Sid Gillman was a true offensive genius, and Bum Phillips was one of the masterminds behind the 3-4 defense. Jerry Glanville was an accomplished defensive coordinator, and Jack Pardee was a man who coached multiple teams to playoff appearances and who helped shepherd a revolutionary offense into the pro game. Adams might have been quick on the trigger to fire people, but there’s no way that a Rick Smith or a Gary Kubiak would have held onto their jobs for as long as they have (did) without having actually accomplished anything, and it’s doubtful a blowhard with no history of accomplishment like Bill O’Brien would have even been hired by Adams.

Bob McNair is a failure of an owner, everything that Adams was accused of being. There’s no evidence that he cares about winning games or making the playoffs. He’s dumped high-profile, accomplished players when they became too expensive. Sure, he doesn’t fire coaches and staff quickly, but he hires people with no real accomplishments and seems not to care that they’re in over their heads.

And why should McNair care? He rakes in millions of dollars off the league’s TV contracts and off of merchandizing. Every single game is sold out (remember how, even when the Oilers were good, there was always the weekly question of whether the game would sell out and thus be on TV). As long as the games are sold out, as long as he gets the same cash for being on television as the Patriots and Packers do and makes money off of Aaron Rodgers jersey sales, there’s absolutely no reason for McNair to care about putting a winning product out on the field.

There’s money to be made, lots of money to be made, in being a mediocre product that plays it safe and refuses to take chances. Peyton Manning is expensive, so just stick with Matt Schaub. Ray Rice commands a decent price, so just use the excuse of his domestic abuse to save a few bucks and keep using Alfred Blue to back up the injury-prone Arian Foster. Sure, some fans might get upset that the team’s never competitive, but hey, as long as there are millions of suckers willing to pay up for J.J. Watt merchandise, why change?

Bob McNair is, without a doubt, the worse owner in the history of Houston sports. But there’s absolutely no reason for him to change. He’s making money. He’s everything that Bud Adams was accused of being, and it’s time the fans and the media started treating McNair the way they treated Adams.

McNair deserves contempt; he deserves fan anger. Not that it’ll matter, not that it’ll actually change anything. Not as long as he’s making millions upon millions of dollars a year by fielding a largely non-competitive, mediocre product year after year after year.

oaklandhater · 10-13-2015, 04:39 PM

Wonder how long it will be before the KC media start's ripping in to Clark.

Dayze · 10-13-2015, 04:42 PM

a LONG time.
seems Clark gets a pass in this town. It's always someone else's fault. I can't think of the last time anyone in the media legitimately called out Clark. sometimes the media infers that ownership might be a problem, but it's quickly glossed over.

Sweet Daddy Hate · 10-13-2015, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oaklandhater

Wonder how long it will be before the KC media start's ripping in to Clark.

The difference this time, is that the guys across the parking lot are serious ****ing business now.

This is going to be a beautiful ride.

oaklandhater · 10-13-2015, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sweet Daddy Williams

The difference this time, is that the guys across the parking lot are serious ****ing business now.

This is going to be a beautiful ride.

Some of the crap they are ripping on mcnair for you can say Clark is equally guilty of.

**Baby Lee** · 10-13-2015, 04:46 PM

Come on

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-networ...nows-no-bounds

Dayze · 10-13-2015, 04:46 PM

if the Royals win the WS, it's gonna be scorched earth or the Chiefs will be an afterthought. This town and and fans only have so many dollars to spend on their favorite team / entertainment dollars. If you have a few grand to blow as part of your entertainment budget, would you spend it on the Royals or the ****ing Chiefs?

I don't even like /follow baseball all that much, but if I had a stash of cash burning a hole in my pocket and had to choose, I'd choose the Royals. I can't believe I just typed that, but the more I reflect on it, it's true.

**Bugeater** · 10-13-2015, 04:47 PM

I think this actually describes the majority of NFL owners. I don't believe most of them really care about winning a Super Bowl.

Brock · 10-13-2015, 04:49 PM

Clark made every effort to hire the best people he could. Don't see how people can lay any shit on him.

oaklandhater · 10-13-2015, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dayze

if the Royals win the WS, it's gonna be scorched earth or the Chiefs will be an afterthought. This town and and fans only have so many dollars to spend on their favorite team / entertainment dollars. If you have a few grand to blow as part of your entertainment budget, would you spend it on the Royals or the ****ing Chiefs?

I don't even like /follow baseball all that much, but if I had a stash of cash burning a hole in my pocket and had to choose, I'd choose the Royals. I can't believe I just typed that, but the more I reflect on it, it's true.

Damm now you are gonna make me root for the Royals to win the WS I wanted the Cubs just for back to the future.

oaklandhater · 10-13-2015, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brock

Clark made every effort to hire the best people he could. Don't see how people can lay any shit on him.

Because it took Flying banners and mass protest for him to see what should have been
obvious

Brock · 10-13-2015, 04:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oaklandhater

Because it took Flying banners and mass protest for him to see what should have been
obvious

This is nonsense. The banners and all that shit was cool and all, but to think that got pioli fired is doubtful at best.

Dayze · 10-13-2015, 04:56 PM

I mean, don't get me wrong I joke quite a bit and I'm pretty sarcastic nearly every waking moment. But I'm serious when I say this town only has so much money to spend on entertainment. The Chiefs have been the luckiest mother****ers on earth for the last 30 years in that they've been the 'only' real ticket in town that could sniff a championship - or so we all thought.

with what the Royals did last year, and what they're continuing to do, the Chiefs are pissing into the wind. I'm serious when I say that if I had, say $3k, sitting around waiting to be spent on a sports team.....it would be the Royals. and probably can't even name 5 players on the team. but I know they're competing and I"ll learn their ****ing names. Yeah, bandwagon, I know. But at this point in my life after eating Chiefs sammiches for 25 years.....I don't give a shit. LIke you get some sort of courage badge / tattoo you can wear/show everyone. "hey....I was a fan when they sucked as for 35 years!!!!" . GFY.

Chiefs suck, and they're as hopeless as can be when discussions of Super Bowls start.

oaklandhater · 10-13-2015, 04:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brock

This is nonsense. The banners and all that shit was cool and all, but to think that got pioli fired is doubtful at best.

SOC lit a fire under Clark the chiefs were a national embarrassment.

Brock · 10-13-2015, 05:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oaklandhater

the chiefs were a national embarrassment.

^ that's why pioli was fired

10-13-2015, 04:38 PM
oaklandhater future chiefs fans Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: oakland california Casino cash: $5808993	Why Bob McNair is the worst NFL owner in history http://www.houstonpress.com/news/why...istory-7839734 the Houston Texans, we are often told, are the ideal franchise. The owner doesn’t interfere with the coach or the general manager. The players are paid well and treated as professionals. The team goes out of its way to ignore any player with a troubled history. It’s an organization of which all Houstonians should be proud. This is all because of Bob McNair, a man treated by many as a saint. The man who brought football back to Houston. A man who wants to win the right way. He’s loyal to the men he hires — only two general managers and only three head coaches in the history of the franchise. His decisions are calculated and not triggered by emotion. The Texans are the ideal, and all the NFL should do things the way McNair does. No owner in the history of Houston sports has accomplished less with his franchise than Bob McNair. Yet no owner in the history of Houston sports is less criticized than McNair. Who cares if his teams don’t win? It’s not McNair’s fault. He saved football in Houston. He puts smart people in charge of the team. He leaves them alone. But in 14 seasons, McNair’s Texans have won just 89 games against 124 losses. There are only two playoff seasons, only four winning seasons in those 14 seasons. Can you imagine the treatment Bud Adams would have received from the Houston media if the Oilers had accomplished so little? The Oilers wouldn't be praised as the ideal model. The Oilers would be mocked as a train wreck run by an owner concerned only with making money. There’d be no praise for passing on players with troubled backgrounds; instead, there’d be loud criticism for Adams being willing to stick with unproven players like Alfred Blue instead of taking a chance on a proven veteran like Ray Rice. Bud Adams is perhaps the most reviled franchise owner in Houston sports history. He’s the guy who blackmailed Harris County into destroying the Astrodome, and the guy who attempted to blackmail the city into building him a downtown domed stadium, then taking his team and splitting for Nashville when he was told no. Adams was mocked endlessly as caring only about money, and for interfering too much with the coaches and general managers. He’s the guy who fired Bum Phillips. The guy who dumped Earl Campbell and Warren Moon. But Adams actually hired legitimately smart, accomplished people to run his teams. Sid Gillman was a true offensive genius, and Bum Phillips was one of the masterminds behind the 3-4 defense. Jerry Glanville was an accomplished defensive coordinator, and Jack Pardee was a man who coached multiple teams to playoff appearances and who helped shepherd a revolutionary offense into the pro game. Adams might have been quick on the trigger to fire people, but there’s no way that a Rick Smith or a Gary Kubiak would have held onto their jobs for as long as they have (did) without having actually accomplished anything, and it’s doubtful a blowhard with no history of accomplishment like Bill O’Brien would have even been hired by Adams. Bob McNair is a failure of an owner, everything that Adams was accused of being. There’s no evidence that he cares about winning games or making the playoffs. He’s dumped high-profile, accomplished players when they became too expensive. Sure, he doesn’t fire coaches and staff quickly, but he hires people with no real accomplishments and seems not to care that they’re in over their heads. And why should McNair care? He rakes in millions of dollars off the league’s TV contracts and off of merchandizing. Every single game is sold out (remember how, even when the Oilers were good, there was always the weekly question of whether the game would sell out and thus be on TV). As long as the games are sold out, as long as he gets the same cash for being on television as the Patriots and Packers do and makes money off of Aaron Rodgers jersey sales, there’s absolutely no reason for McNair to care about putting a winning product out on the field. There’s money to be made, lots of money to be made, in being a mediocre product that plays it safe and refuses to take chances. Peyton Manning is expensive, so just stick with Matt Schaub. Ray Rice commands a decent price, so just use the excuse of his domestic abuse to save a few bucks and keep using Alfred Blue to back up the injury-prone Arian Foster. Sure, some fans might get upset that the team’s never competitive, but hey, as long as there are millions of suckers willing to pay up for J.J. Watt merchandise, why change? Bob McNair is, without a doubt, the worse owner in the history of Houston sports. But there’s absolutely no reason for him to change. He’s making money. He’s everything that Bud Adams was accused of being, and it’s time the fans and the media started treating McNair the way they treated Adams. McNair deserves contempt; he deserves fan anger. Not that it’ll matter, not that it’ll actually change anything. Not as long as he’s making millions upon millions of dollars a year by fielding a largely non-competitive, mediocre product year after year after year.
Posts: 24,003

10-13-2015, 04:39 PM	#2
oaklandhater future chiefs fans Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: oakland california Casino cash: $5808993	Wonder how long it will be before the KC media start's ripping in to Clark.
Posts: 24,003

10-13-2015, 04:42 PM	#3
Dayze Resident Glue Sniffer Join Date: Nov 2003 Casino cash: $1729358	a LONG time. seems Clark gets a pass in this town. It's always someone else's fault. I can't think of the last time anyone in the media legitimately called out Clark. sometimes the media infers that ownership might be a problem, but it's quickly glossed over. __________________ Life is 99% inspiration, 1% Perspiration, and 1% Attention to Detial. RIP & Godspeed: Saccoppo Lonewolf Ed Fire Me Boy
Posts: 37,460

10-13-2015, 04:46 PM	#6
Baby Lee Supporter Join Date: Aug 2000 Casino cash: $8028275	Come on http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-networ...nows-no-bounds __________________ We need the kind of courage that can withstand the subtle corruption of the cynics - E.W.
Posts: 95,642

10-13-2015, 04:46 PM	#7
Dayze Resident Glue Sniffer Join Date: Nov 2003 Casino cash: $1729358	if the Royals win the WS, it's gonna be scorched earth or the Chiefs will be an afterthought. This town and and fans only have so many dollars to spend on their favorite team / entertainment dollars. If you have a few grand to blow as part of your entertainment budget, would you spend it on the Royals or the **ing Chiefs? I don't even like /follow baseball all that much, but if I had a stash of cash burning a hole in my pocket and had to choose, I'd choose the Royals. I can't believe I just typed that, but the more I reflect on it, it's true. __________________ Life is 99% inspiration, 1% Perspiration, and 1% Attention to Detial. RIP & Godspeed:** Saccoppo Lonewolf Ed Fire Me Boy
Posts: 37,460

10-13-2015, 04:47 PM	#8
Bugeater The Maintenance Guy Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Renovated Bugeater Estate Casino cash: $3992680	I think this actually describes the majority of NFL owners. I don't believe most of them really care about winning a Super Bowl.
Posts: 70,546

10-13-2015, 04:49 PM	#9
Brock Say hello to my little friend Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Larryville Casino cash: $9598422	Clark made every effort to hire the best people he could. Don't see how people can lay any shit on him.
Posts: 47,314

10-13-2015, 04:56 PM	#13
Dayze Resident Glue Sniffer Join Date: Nov 2003 Casino cash: $1729358	I mean, don't get me wrong I joke quite a bit and I'm pretty sarcastic nearly every waking moment. But I'm serious when I say this town only has so much money to spend on entertainment. The Chiefs have been the luckiest mother**ers on earth for the last 30 years in that they've been the 'only' real ticket in town that could sniff a championship - or so we all thought. with what the Royals did last year, and what they're continuing to do, the Chiefs are pissing into the wind. I'm serious when I say that if I had, say $3k, sitting around waiting to be spent on a sports team.....it would be the Royals. and probably can't even name 5 players on the team. but I know they're competing and I"ll learn their ing names. Yeah, bandwagon, I know. But at this point in my life after eating Chiefs sammiches for 25 years.....I don't give a shit. LIke you get some sort of courage badge / tattoo you can wear/show everyone. "hey....I was a fan when they sucked as for 35 years!!!!" . GFY. Chiefs suck, and they're as hopeless as can be when discussions of Super Bowls start. __________________ Life is 99% inspiration, 1% Perspiration, and 1% Attention to Detial. RIP & Godspeed:** Saccoppo Lonewolf Ed Fire Me Boy
Posts: 37,460