Houston Texans Co-Founder and Owner Janice McNair Dies at 89

Janice S. McNair, co-founder and senior chair of the Houston Texans, died Tuesday in Houston at age 89, the team announced. Cal McNair, her son and the team's chair and CEO, said she exuded kindness and lived a life centered on faith, family, philanthropy and football.

"It's impossible to describe the profound gratitude that my sisters, Ruth and Melissa, and I feel for having her as our mom," he said. " She became the Texans' principal owner after Bob McNair, her husband and the team's former owner, died in November 2018. Janice and Bob McNair played a pivotal role in returning an NFL franchise to Houston after the Oilers left in 1996.

The Texans began play in 2002 and hold a 174-214-1 record with seven playoff wins and eight AFC South titles. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement that Janice McNair was a woman of extraordinary generosity, grace and faith whose impact on the Houston community and the NFL will be felt for generations.

"Alongside Bob, she helped bring the NFL back to her beloved Houston," Goodell said.

NFL owners approved Cal McNair as the new franchise principal owner in March 2024. Head coach DeMeco Ryans, who played for the Texans from 2005 to 2011 under Bob McNair and returned in 2023, said McNair built an organization that felt like a family. "McNair welcomed me back into the Texans family with open arms and her signature warm smile," Ryans said.