yeah ESPN is in a rough spot here, esp. when they see who gets the top comments on articles like this: (this is the 'Texans walk out over McNair's 'inmates run the prison' line)

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/2...mcnair-comment

The team should walk out and force a forfeit.

would never happen, not in the NFL. Contracts are so weak and careers are so short there is just way too much at stake for almost everyone. If I were them I would try to organize the team just stand around and refuse to kick off until they get penalized for delay of game on the opening kick off.

But at the very least we're gonna see a lot of kneeling by Texans players I think.

The best players are just fine financially. Thats all it would take.

So we're never going to see the Steeler's prison alternates again?

That's not what anyone is saying, and why people are saying that contract seems fine because there will be some otherwise workplace inappropriate things that are going to be used for their entertainment content.

Portnoy saying some stupid sexist things doesn't mean we are condoning what he has said. We can distinguish the difference between entertainment content and blatant sexism/sexual harassment; I'm not sure you can.

I can't find any comments that the texans owner made other than "We can’t have inmates running the prison"

Isn't this a pretty common phrase, particularly in reference when employees are doing something that is financially harmful to both them and the employers?

The common phrase is “inmates running the asylum” and would be used in the context of a substitute teacher letting the 2nd graders spitball each other and run around the class without proper discipline.

Using the phrase “inmates running the prison” in the context in was used is very very different. Any spin by Clay Travis types that it’s simply a figure of speech akin to saying it’s raining cats and dogs when it’s pouring shows a lack of critical thinking and nuance.

It’s quite clear what the owner thinks. He may not have used it “intending” to be racist but that doesn’t matter. it’s very obvious how he views the players and himself and it strikes me as odd that anyone could think otherwise given how it was reported

Also it doenst matter what he said. Hes a racist piece of **** scumbag either way. He doesnt need to say anything else.

I mean he literally looks like the bad guy from a movie. Foh.

I've heard the phrase in multiple "board room" type meetings, and it's been in the same context as this one is being reported-he was commenting on actions that were costing his company money. Not really sure how that takes spin, its definitely been used in multiple businesses for the exact same reasons, not just for spitballs. It just didn't cause employees to walk out on the job.

Should he have used a different phrase? Absolutely.
Should any player take it as the owner insinuating they are prisoners? lol, no



lol posting this back to back

OK, for the benefit of the forum, who, specifically, are the people analogous to the unruly school children, and what were they doing that is comparable to spitballs?

It's like you're actively trying to miss the point

Huh? I wasn't the one who brought up that example and I don't really think it fits the context the analogy was used in

One of the most annoying things I see on twitter is bum ass people giving **** to back-ups or no-name guys for not kneeling. You honestly expect some 7th round pick who makes less than 500k a year and has nothing guaranteed beyond the current year to put his career on the line in that spot? Especially considering the average career is like 2.5 years? Have an idea.

The common phrase is "Inmates running the asylum." Probably not a good idea to refer to your employees--most of whom are black--as 'inmates' given that black people are disproportionately incarcerated in the US, not to mention decades and decades of racist ideas about black people being criminals etc.

It's like you're actively trying to twist someones words about employees costing themselves and their employers money (using a common analogy) into something racial.

I agree with you that it was an awful idea to use the phrase, not because of the phrase used but because of the reaction it would no doubt get and the loss in profit it would cause him.

I can't get into his mind, and neither can you, so to assume it was or was not anything more than a phrase seems more like people are looking for a fight than anything else.

having a bunch of old white dudes comment on social issues openly probably not the best.

That’s exactly the point. It doesn’t fit the context and it isn’t even the commonly used phrase. You’re literally proving the argument against your position.

Why is a team president even considering commenting to his team about a political race?

He has apparently donated to republican elections so it could just be that but damn is it stupid to comment to his team on that, what's the point??

The context he used it was in reference to business related matters.

You're example was what I did not believe fit the analogy, or at least not the way he was using it (in a business related context)

The bolded is a masterpiece.

I am guessing he meant to say "inmates running the asylum" which is a common phrase and accidentally said "prison." I don't think he meant anything by it and this is a big nothing burger. I think the whole protest and outrage movement by NFL players has gone way too far and personally it is a big turn off to the sport for me.

Looks like Trump wins again.

lol you know what I meant

It was an awful idea to murder those people, not because they are dead but because of the reaction it would elicit.