WATCH: Houston Texans Kneel During Anthem To Protest Owner Comments

The majority of the Houston Texans kneeled during the national anthem Sunday before their game with the Seattle Seahawks to protest comments made by their owner. Several Seahawks players also sat during the anthem.

Texans team owner Bob McNair was quoted in an ESPN article Friday as calling players “inmates.” The quote came from earlier this month while McNair was speaking at an owners meeting about the recent trend of player’s protesting during the national anthem. McNair has expressed that he wants his players to stand during the anthem.

“We can't have the inmates running the prison… the inmates are running the asylum,” said McNair.

McNair apologized in a statement for the comments.

“I never meant to offend anyone and I was not referring to our players," McNair's statement said. “I used a figure of speech that was never intended to be taken literally. I would never characterize our players or our league that way and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it.”