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An Ode to Bill O'Brien

chicagotexan2

Easterby = Little Finger/Cal = Fredo Corleone
I read this on air at 610 AM

He does not care if you are no good or no longer great

What matters most to Obrien is "are you available for practice relative to being a good teammate?"

Building a team with players that are Strong, Tough and Dependable

Therefore unproductive scrubs like Clowney and Hopkins became expendable

He perplexes the opposition with an offensive scheme as complex as a riddle

Confounding the defense with an unexpected first down run up the middle

When he looks in the mirror he sees a failure and sucker

Screaming at the top of his lungs "you suck too mother****er!!"

If we continue down the road to ruin the fans will revolt-a

Cal McNair must grow a pair and fire Fat Travolta

 
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Mollywhopper

Facilitator
Staff member
One handed player would rather be on a practice squad somewhere else than come to Houston to be on the active roster. You can’t make this sh1t up! LMAO
Houston was one of a few teams to inquire about him in free agency. And his twin brother is also a Seahawk, which he's on record stating the importance of, and Seattle and Pete Carroll are the team that took a chance on him to start his oddly punchline worthy one-handed career to begin with..
 

OptimisticTexan

2024 / Rebuilding Block 4 After Playoffs / Texans
Based on the way the Texans LB'ers have been playing.....getting a one-legged LB here for a tryout wouldn't be that bad of an idea. I'm telling ya....players are putting the word out, don't come to Houston b/c we're tossing in the towel on this joke of a GM, HC and baby Momma Hater.
 

KA4Texan

Woof!
Contributor's Club
Scapegoat number what now?
Anyone claiming to have the answer to this is a liar.

A group of scientists and mathematicians equipped with the fastest supercomputers are still trying to figure out this number.

Its more ellusive than the ever so mind bending age old question. "How many licks does it take to get to the tootsie roll center of a Tootsie Pop?"
 

Carr Bombed

Hall of Fame
You know, you could be right. The only money I've ever spent on the Texans is for a few hats and t-shirts. Maybe I should've got a genuine Texan letter jacket.
It's not really money spent, but time and emotional investment spent..

So glad I decided to cut that drastically.. I'll still drop in to chat with y'all though.

Hopefully this is their rock bottom and there's sunnier days ahead, but knowing this franchise, they'll just stubbornly dig themselves deeper into ineptitude and embarrassing foolery.
 

OptimisticTexan

2024 / Rebuilding Block 4 After Playoffs / Texans
The Houston Texans are spending $255M in cash on their roster this season, more than any other team in the NFL. They owe their first- and second-round picks in 2021 to the Dolphins. They're currently 0-4.
Wow.....when will the McNairs be handing him 15% ownership stake? Seems like he's really earned it with his current effort.
 

Texazan

Our HOF 34

posting here since OB fired thread is locked.
supposedly in 2017 OB started that whole power struggle thing in an attempt to get fired.
I'm listening to 790 and they're reading excerpts from the article/book, this is CRAZY shiit, it aligns with just about all the goofy crap BOB did. Ownership continues to look even more inadequate which I thought would be hard to do....
 
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TexansBull

Hall of Fame

posting here since OB fired thread is locked.
supposedly in 2017 OB started that whole power struggle thing in an attempt to get fired.
I am calling BS on this.

The problem I have with this is that OB just didn’t all of a sudden do stupid things that made people question him, the guy had been doing stupid things for a long while. There were plenty of people that wanted him gone prior to the Osweiler debacle and for sure after.

This reminds me of the kid that is losing a game and then all of sudden quits and says he was trying to lose.

If you watched 51-7 then you saw the moments where OB just couldn’t handle it.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
I am calling BS on this.

The problem I have with this is that OB just didn’t all of a sudden do stupid things that made people question him, the guy had been doing stupid things for a long while. There were plenty of people that wanted him gone prior to the Osweiler debacle and for sure after.

This reminds me of the kid that is losing a game and then all of sudden quits and says he was trying to lose.

If you watched 51-7 then you saw the moments where OB just couldn’t handle it.
Except it's not like he started saying all this now, all of a sudden.

I haven't read the book, but supposedly this guy's getting his info from conversations (maybe emails) back then.

& maybe it was known in the FO & they kept giving him more power to keep him. He eventually got everything here he thought he would have in NE. Kinda like he had at Penn State
 

TexansBull

Hall of Fame
Except it's not like he started saying all this now, all of a sudden.

I haven't read the book, but supposedly this guy's getting his info from conversations (maybe emails) back then.

& maybe it was known in the FO & they kept giving him more power to keep him. He eventually got everything here he thought he would have in NE. Kinda like he had at Penn State
I don’t know what point you are trying to make. It’s my fault.

But this isn’t the reaction from a guy trying to lose.

 

Earl34

Hall of Fame
Except it's not like he started saying all this now, all of a sudden.

I haven't read the book, but supposedly this guy's getting his info from conversations (maybe emails) back then.

& maybe it was known in the FO & they kept giving him more power to keep him. He eventually got everything here he thought he would have in NE. Kinda like he had at Penn State
This is similar to Jeff Fisher's media playbook. Three things we knew about Bud Adams. He was impatient, he was cheap and he hated the Cowboys. So, how does a mediocre .500 coach avoid getting fired, becomes one of highest paid HCs, obtains more organizational power and keeps his job for 17 years? Every time he is on the verge of a losing season, playoff disappointment or contract negotiations, like clockwork, reports from unnamed sources claimed that if he was fired, Jerry Jones would immediately fire his coach and hire Fisher. It worked for 17 years and when he was eventually fired, he was hired by the Rams and not even the Cowboys.

If you look back at the timeframe mentioned in the book (December 2017), here are the some of the media reports on O'Brien and the Texans. It seems he did start and never expected to win a power struggle with Rick Smith. This would make Smith a convenient scapegoat for his exit strategy.

Bill O'Brien Reportedly Prepared to Leave Texans If GM Rick Smith Stays | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights

Report: Bill O'Brien, Rick Smith Have 'Toxic' and 'Dysfunctional' Relationship | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights

Texans in turmoil: Relationship between coach Bill O'Brien, GM Rick Smith called 'toxic' (houstonchronicle.com)

Tension Between Texans? Rick Smith & Bill O'Brien Beef - YouTube
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
This is similar to Jeff Fisher's media playbook. Three things we knew about Bud Adams. He was impatient, he was cheap and he hated the Cowboys. So, how does a mediocre .500 coach avoid getting fired, becomes one of highest paid HCs, obtains more organizational power and keeps his job for 17 years? Every time he is on the verge of a losing season, playoff disappointment or contract negotiations, like clockwork, reports from unnamed sources claimed that if he was fired, Jerry Jones would immediately fire his coach and hire Fisher. It worked for 17 years and when he was eventually fired, he was hired by the Rams and not even the Cowboys.

If you look back at the timeframe mentioned in the book (December 2017), here are the some of the media reports on O'Brien and the Texans. It seems he did start and never expected to win a power struggle with Rick Smith. This would make Smith a convenient scapegoat for his exit strategy.

Bill O'Brien Reportedly Prepared to Leave Texans If GM Rick Smith Stays | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights

Report: Bill O'Brien, Rick Smith Have 'Toxic' and 'Dysfunctional' Relationship | Bleacher Report | Latest News, Videos and Highlights

Texans in turmoil: Relationship between coach Bill O'Brien, GM Rick Smith called 'toxic' (houstonchronicle.com)

Tension Between Texans? Rick Smith & Bill O'Brien Beef - YouTube
Very interesting scenario. He probably thought that Cal & Rick's friendship would ultimately prevail, but did not anticipate a leave of absence by Smith in December 2017.

If this O'Brien agenda is true at all, it actually makes many of his moves since then a lot more sense.

He was probably thinking "what do I have to do to get fired around here" after screaming F-U to a fan! lol
 

mws

Rookie
Very interesting scenario. He probably thought that Cal & Rick's friendship would ultimately prevail, but did not anticipate a leave of absence by Smith in December 2017.
You know, this just makes the McNairs look weak & stupid.

Just my opinion but from the outside looking in it seems Cal latches on to someone & will not believe anything negative until the next candidate for his adviser/buddy comes on the horizon.

At which point he gets rid of the old & places all his confidence in the new.

Rick Smith ==> Bill O'Brien ==> Jack Easterby

The worst part of this is it seems like the people he fixates on are getting stranger & stranger. Hell of a way to run a billion dollar company.
 

sandman

Brexit Advisor
Makes me wonder who would have won this battle had the dynamics of Smith's wife having cancer not been a factor. Smith was stepping away no matter what.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
You know, this just makes the McNairs look weak & stupid.

Just my opinion but from the outside looking in it seems Cal latches on to someone & will not believe anything negative until the next candidate for his adviser/buddy comes on the horizon.

At which point he gets rid of the old & places all his confidence in the new.

Rick Smith ==> Bill O'Brien ==> Jack Easterby

The worst part of this is it seems like the people he fixates on are getting stranger & stranger. Hell of a way to run a billion dollar company.
My thoughts exactly.

Interesting part is that Bob McNair was still alive during that O'Brien/Smith power struggle, so he was part of the decision process.

For me, after two+ decades of closely following this franchise, it's clear that the entire McNair family was never really qualified to run an NFL team. They are obviously qualified to own one, but that's different than actually being involved with football operations and influencing those decisions with an apparent idealistic naivety.

An NFL franchise is a money machine. With revenue sharing, every team is guaranteed an annual profit. So ultimately, franchises are billionaires play toys. It's the billionaires with competitive streaks that want to win. Which helps explain why this team has never made it to a conference championship game while their three division opponents have all been there in the last decade.

I'm just hoping Cal/Jack are the proverbial blind squirrel finding a nut with Caserio. He really is the only hope this franchise has for a successful future right now.
 

thunderkyss

Just win baby!!!
Staff member
Contributor's Club
For me, after two+ decades of closely following this franchise, it's clear that the entire McNair family was never really qualified to run an NFL team.
I think this is true of most (not all) NFL owners. They pretty much luck into the right circumstances & win a championship or two.

I think about Dick Vermeil & Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk... all of them ok, nothing special before they were with the Rams, but something happened & Georgia Frontiere looks like a genius.

Kraft saw something in Belichick that only Parcells saw & boom... genius.

For whatever reason, what seems so obvious to me & you seems to escape "most" NFL owners.
 
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TexansBull

Hall of Fame
You know, this just makes the McNairs look weak & stupid.

Just my opinion but from the outside looking in it seems Cal latches on to someone & will not believe anything negative until the next candidate for his adviser/buddy comes on the horizon.

At which point he gets rid of the old & places all his confidence in the new.

Rick Smith ==> Bill O'Brien ==> Jack Easterby

The worst part of this is it seems like the people he fixates on are getting stranger & stranger. Hell of a way to run a billion dollar company.
My thoughts exactly.

Interesting part is that Bob McNair was still alive during that O'Brien/Smith power struggle, so he was part of the decision process.

For me, after two+ decades of closely following this franchise, it's clear that the entire McNair family was never really qualified to run an NFL team. They are obviously qualified to own one, but that's different than actually being involved with football operations and influencing those decisions with an apparent idealistic naivety.

An NFL franchise is a money machine. With revenue sharing, every team is guaranteed an annual profit. So ultimately, franchises are billionaires play toys. It's the billionaires with competitive streaks that want to win. Which helps explain why this team has never made it to a conference championship game while their three division opponents have all been there in the last decade.

I'm just hoping Cal/Jack are the proverbial blind squirrel finding a nut with Caserio. He really is the only hope this franchise has for a successful future right now.
It hasn’t been uncommon for the Bob McNair to give an extended period of time to someone.

He did with Kubiak. Rick Smith. OB. There is a definite pattern.

I remember him at the press conference with Kubiak saying the Steelers were patient with Cowher and the Texans would do the same with Kubiak. I think that’s when Kubiak got extended if memory serves.

Mr. McNair died after giving OB an extension and hiring Gaine as GM. I don’t know if that was Cal acting or Bob.

Cal was managing the shop in 2019 which was the peak year for OB. It wasn’t until that off season (prior to 2020 season) that the Watson stuff started leaking. OB promoted to GM. Hopkins traded. Cal drops hammer on OB. Watson extended. Watson asks for trade.

Enter Caserio.

You could say Mr. McNair held on too long. Cal entered 2019 coasting along with his father’s plan until as of recently hiring Caserio in 2021.

I don’t know what this means other than Cal is carrying out his father’s plan, but may execute it differently.
 
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