2014 Houston Texans Offseason: Why So Vocal, Bob?

You think about death a lot differently at 50 than you do at 25. By that logic, one would think about it a lot differently at 75 than 50.

We'll get back to this thought, but I know that one thing I have noticed a lot lately is the presence of Mr. Robert C. McNair. Bob McNair wanted to see Case Keenum play more, Bob McNair was embarrassed by losing, Bob McNair wants to be like Bob Kraft, Bob McNair likes Jadeveon Clowney, and so on and so forth.

Really, it was the Keenum must play rationale (which led to Gary Kubiak's firing), that really struck my attention. For so long, we've lauded McNair for his laissez-faire style of ownership. He would, in theory, hire people more knowledgeable about football than himself, and he'd let them do their jobs. Amongst Houston fans, this was a point of pride, especially when you consider what was going on up north. Lately, it doesn't seem as if that's the case. Is losing the catalyst for the change? Or is there something else coloring these decisions?

Maybe McNair's more vocal actions were swayed by the loss of a peer. When viewed through this lens, you see McNair as the nearly 80-year-old man he is. You see him as one of the older owners in the league and one of the very few who doesn't possess any sort of trophy outside of his office. Think back to my first paragraph and you maybe get a sense of someone who might see their own window closing and wants to make any moves necessary to ensure he harvests fruit from his substantial investment.

Is this the cause of these quick moves? Is this the cause of him throwing his weight around? Does the owner feel that this is his last stand, so to speak? That the moves, particularly the talent chosen to be the face of the franchise for the next 10 years, made this offseason will be the ones that play out over, possibly, his final years in charge before son Cal, who has been publicly seen at his father's side a lot more over the past few seasons, takes the reins?

There's still plenty of time to see if these incidents were caused by the frustration and embarrassment of losing or if McNair's going to pull rank and demand a certain local college star or a star from his alma mater becomes a Texan with the first pick of the 2014 NFL Draft. This new regime's first decisions will be watched with a closer eye than usual, and maybe strongly influenced, from the highest office in Reliant Park.