The contrasting fortunes of two Houston Texans show why players can't soundly protest against the NFL

Around 40 Texans players took a knee during the pre-game national anthem after owner Bob McNair had described increasing protests as 'letting inmates run the prison'

The Houston Texans protested against their owner's comments (Getty)

The biggest storyline of the weekend collided with the best game of the weekend in Seattle as the Houston Texans lost 41-38 at the Seahawks in a wildly entertaining NFL encounter that had everything.

Around 40 Texans players took a knee during the pre-game national anthem, an ever-growing number after their franchise owner, Trump donor Bob McNair, had described increasing protests as “letting inmates run the prison.”

With so many black stars in the league and the astonishing, disproportionate rates of African-American incarceration in the US, what McNair later claimed was simply a ‘figure of speech’ could barely have been more inappropriate. This is an issue that won’t go away, no matter how much the league, its owners and Donald Trump want it to and comments like McNair’s not only serve to show why but to exacerbate the issue.

Two Texans players, on hearing about McNair’s comments, had skipped practice on Friday and their divergent fortunes were also indicative of why the NFL’s players have been unable to make a bigger stand than they currently do.

DeAndre Hopkins is the team’s star wide receiver. He didn’t practice on Friday but nor did he really need to, he was always going to get the start in Seattle and, linking up with superstar first-year quarterback Deshaun Watson, he put on a show. 224 yards and a touchdown – the second-best game of his career.

Hopkins signed a five-year, $81m contract with the Texans last month that means there was never any chance of retribution. Of all the players in the NFL, only around 2-5% have the financial and job security to defy their franchise owners and Hopkins is one of that minority. Others don’t have that luxury but took a stand regardless.

D’Onta Foreman is a rookie running back who has backed up first-stringer Lamar Miller this season. One day he might be top of the depth chart but after deciding to skip practice on Friday he found himself benched in Seattle, not touching the ball once.

"I'm still upset," Foreman said post-game. "I still feel like some things shouldn't be said, but you go to deal with it. I was upset. I feel like my family that's been supporting the Texans since they started the franchise and me growing up watching this franchise, a comment like that is definitely going to hit home with me.

A number of Texans took a knee prior to the game (Getty)

"I have a daughter. Even though she's young, that's something you got to stand on morals and principles. I was brought up like that. You have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. I want to be here. I love my teammates."

Foreman’s absence from the field on Sunday night will please some of the league’s more hardline owners. A message to anyone thinking of making some noise that it isn’t appreciated by those who really wield the power in the NFL.

The owners believe they hold that power but the players like to think they do too. They should have, they are more numerous and they are the attraction, after all. There is only so long that people would still pay to watch sub-par football should the best players make a concerted, united stand on something and hold out from playing. But there remains only a select few can take a stand and until that tiny group realise that and act on it, the will of the rich, predominantly white and Republican team owners will suppress stronger, more meaningful action.

Players like Foreman have their careers and livelihoods to think of. The average player entering the NFL lasts just three-and-a-half years, and for late-round picks and running backs that life expectancy is even shorter. What the 21-year-old rookie did was brave but could cost him down the line - what better evidence do you need of owners prioritising obedience over talent than the fact that Colin Kaepernick remains unemployed while the likes of C.J. Beathard and Blake Bortles are still out there slinging passes?

While McNair will now lie low, the excuses he gave in apologising for those comments have ignited a further row about the leadership of the NFL under current commissioner Roger Goodell.

But that is for another time. Another off-the-field storyline threatening to engulf the league at a time when the owners just want everyone to focus on what is happening on it.