While the latest half of his career has proven that, outside of the booth, he is a man of few words, Jay Z’s remarks are always right on time and necessary. During the latest stop of his 4:44 Tour in Anaheim, California, the rapper and mogul decided to speak out in response to the controversial comments made by the owner of the Houston Texans, Bob McNair.
It was earlier in the week that McNair found himself in a firestorm of backlash after reports emerged, revealing that during a closed-door meeting with other NFL team owners, he stated that “we can’t have the inmates running the prison,” in reference to players kneeling during the national anthem despite the wishes of the owners. Naturally Jay, who has been vocal in his support of Colin Kaepernick, the player whose decision to kneel spearheaded this whole movement, decided to deliver on a few words on the matter before launching into his “The Story of O.J.” in Anaheim
“[They’re] injuring themselves on the field, giving it all they got,” he said. “That’s how they look at you. That’s exactly what they think about you. We got so much further to go. The truth is we all believe in whatever you believe in. God, Allah. Whatever you believe in, we all come from one source which means we are all brothers and sisters at the end of the day.”
Previous efforts from Jay while performing have included his dedication of “The Story of O.J.” to Colin Kaepernick at the Meadows Festival, and his decision to wear Kap’s jersey during his performance on SNL.
As for McNair, he’s since gone on to make two public apologies to no significant success. In his latest statement, McNair went so far to say that he was actually referring “to the relationship between the league office and team owners and how they have been making significant strategic decisions affecting our league without adequate input from owners over the past few years.”
"I am truly sorry to the players for how this has impacted them and the perception that it has created of me which could not be further from the truth,” he went on to add.
