Texans Deny Report That They Won't Sign Free Agents Who Protested During National Anthem

The Texans are refuting a Houston Chronicle from this weekend that said the team wasn’t interested in signing free agents who’d protested during the national anthem: 

The Chronicle piece, published on Saturday by staff columnist Jerome Solomon, cited two anonymous agents who claimed that the Texans weren’t considering any players who’d knelt in protest of racial inequality:

“There is no directive within the organization, but it is considered to be understood that as desperate as the Texans are to bring in talent, the pool of potential signees and draftees will not include anyone who has participated in protests or are likely to.”

Nearly the entire team knelt during the anthem for one game last October, after owner Bob McNair’s disastrous “we can’t have the inmates running the prison” comment on the possibility of the league banning such protests.