Tag: Houston Texans owner

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones says Texans founder Bob McNair was ‘Mr. Wonderful’

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones complimented Bob McNair, the late founder of the Houston Texans, as being “Mr. Wonderful.”

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ fondness for Houston Texans founder Bob McNair is well documented. Jones was even in attendance for McNair’s memorial service at NRG Stadium on Dec. 7, 2018, after McNair passed away following a battle with skin cancer.

Jones, who has a twice-a-week radio segment in Dallas, referred to McNair as “Mr. Wonderful.”

“Total, complete person, man; self-made,” Jones told “K&C Masterpiece” on 105.3 “The Fan” [KRLD-FM] in Dallas-Fort Worth. “Basically came to Houston. I think he was principally in the automobile business early. Just absolutely beat it right out of the ground, and I don’t know that I met anybody that spent any time around that didn’t have have wonderful things to say about him.”

Jones said McNair was admired throughout the NFL for his commitment to bring a franchise back to Houston following the departure of the Houston Oilers in 1997.

“He was a real leader throughout the years in the NFL; well respected,” Jones said. “Everybody knew what he had done to put that Houston team, to put it back into football. I wanted so much for him to have success, for the Houston Texans to be everything they could be.

“A lot of people would think, ‘Well, you have all those Cowboys fans. Why don’t you just keep it Cowboys?’ Well, first of all, I don’t have that wish, but I don’t have that ability. But Houston deserves football.”

Week 14 will be the first game in the regular season series that McNair will not witness. The Cowboys hold a 3-2 edge over the Texans. Houston got the first win in the series on Sept. 8, 2002, in their inaugural game at then-Reliant Stadium. The Texans also have the most recent win in the series as they beat the Cowboys Oct. 7 in overtime at NRG Stadium.

The Texans kickoff at 12:00 p.m. Central Time against the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.

WATCH: Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair hands out shirts, signs autographs at training camp

Houston Texans chairman and CEO Cal McNair was at Houston Methodist Training Center signing autographs and giving out shirts at training camp.

The excitement of Houston Texans training camp is contagious.

The fans are back in greater numbers than they were in 2021, and it didn’t have as much to do with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic as it did the pessimism surrounding the team. The Texans weren’t going to have a franchise quarterback on the field — but taking up salary cap space and a roster spot — the roster was bottom tier, and their solution at coach was a 65-year-old rookie who had never been as much as a coordinator in his nearly 30 years prior.

With the promotion of defensive coordinator and associate head coach Lovie Smith to the big role, the optimism has been spreading.

Chairman and CEO Cal McNair and his wife, Hannah McNair, took part in the fun on the sixth day of training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center by giving away shirts to the fans in the stands and also signing autographs.

 

The reality is the Texans haven’t won four games since 2019 and there are a bevy of question marks across the roster and coaching staff. Nevertheless the McNairs, team president Greg Grissom, and general manager Nick Caserio have done a magnificent job of generating energy and positivity surrounding the club as it carries on throughout its 20th year as the Texans.