Texans co-founder and senior chair Janice McNair died on the age of 89 in Houston on Tuesday, per a team announcement.
McNair co-founded the Texans along with her husband, Bob McNair, in 1999. Upon his death in 2018, she assumed principal control of the franchise along with her son, Cal, running the team as CEO. In March 2024, she officially passed ownership to Cal.
“Outside of our family, nothing mattered more to her than her beloved Texans,” Cal McNair said in an announcement regarding his mother’s passing (via KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson). “I remain honored to guide this franchise and construct on the muse my parents set after they brought football back to Houston. Mom leaves an indelible mark on our family, our team and our community, and her giving spirit will at all times be embedded in the material of our organization.”
The late Nineteen Nineties were a tumultuous period within the NFL. Between 1995 and 1997, 4 teams moved cities, capped off by the Oilers departing Houston for Tennessee, where they might change into the Titans. A movement to bring an NFL team back to Houston took off shortly after, aided by the restoration of the Browns in Cleveland in 1999. To bring the league back to a good variety of teams (32), the McNairs’ ownership group was granted an expansion franchise for $700MM.
The Texans officially joined the NFL in 2002 with the league’s first-ever retractable-roof arena (then-Reliant, now-NRG Stadium). They toiled at the underside of the AFC South until 2011, when head coach Gary Kubiak mounted back-to-back division-winning campaigns that ended with second-round playoff losses. Bill O’Brien took over as head coach in 2014, and over the subsequent six years, Houston brought home the AFC South trophy for times, but with it got here just two postseason victories. O’Brien was relieved of duty in 2020 followed by two one-year stints under David Culley and Lovie Smith.
In 2023, former Texans Pro Bowl linebacker and 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans was hired as head coach. Houston also drafted C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson with the second and third picks of the draft, kickstarting a brand new period of competitiveness that has featured at the very least one playoff win in each of the last three years.
“Mrs. McNair was an incredible woman who can be deeply missed,” Ryans said in an announcement. “As a player, she and Mr. McNair built a company that felt like a family and it was a real honor to play for them. I’ll at all times remember the day I got here home to Houston in 2023. Mrs. McNair welcomed me back into the Texans family with open arms and her signature warm smile. We shared the identical vision of bringing the organization to latest heights and I’ll proceed to work on daily basis to perform that goal. My thoughts and prayers are with Cal, Hannah and their family during this time.”
Chief community officer Hannah McNair, general manager Nick Caserio, and team president Mike Tomon also released statements regarding Janice McNair’s passing. We at PFR extend our condolences to her family and the complete Texans organization.