HOUSTON — Houston Texans football coach Bill O'Brien and several players criticized a Facebook post made by a Texas school superintendent after the team's 27-20 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday, that read in part, "you can't count on a black quarterback," the Houston Chronicle reported Wednesday.
Lynn Redden, the superintendent of the Onalaska Independent School District, apparently was reacting to the final play of Sunday’s game, when Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson held on to the football as time ran out.
The incident occurred Monday, when the Chronicle posted a meme about the play.
Matt Erickson, of Houston, commented that he never watches the "perpetual dumpster fire that is the Houston Texans," KTRK reported.
Redden, who is white, then replied in a public post, “That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I've seen in the NFL. When you need precision decision making you can't count on a black quarterback."
The Chronicle obtained a screenshot of the comment, the newspaper reported.
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At his Wednesday news conference, O’Brien criticized the comments.
"I don't want to waste any time responding to ignorant, idiotic statements," O’Brien said. "Deshaun represents everything that's right about football and life. It's amazing that BS exists, but it does."
At the same news conference, Watson said he had experienced racism before but did not comment about the superintendent’s post.
"That's on him – let peace be with him," Watson said. "I'm all about love."
Texans defensive star J.J. Watt said the post “does not deserve any attention from any of us.”
“It's a very ignorant comment that doesn't deserve any more play,” Watt said. “It's very unfortunate. I trust (Watson). We all trust him."
Redden told the Chronicle in a telephone interview that he regretted making the post, which has been deleted, and thought he was responding to a private message. He told the newspaper he deleted the comment as soon as he realized it was public. He said that he was referring to the statistical success of black NFL quarterbacks, adding that they "have had limited success" throughout the league's history, the Chronicle reported.
The Onalaska ISD school board will discuss Redden's contract during a closed meeting Saturday, the Chronicle reported. In a statement to KPRC, the school board said that it "does not condone negative comments or actions against any race."
"The district values every individual and therefore the district will take the appropriate measures to address the situation expeditiously and completely," the statement read.