Jamey Rootes, former Houston Texans president for nearly two decades and a fixture on the Houston sports and charity landscape, died on Sunday at the age of 56 from an apparent suicide. His wife, Melissa, posted the following on Facebook on Monday afternoon:
Several months after leaving the Houston Texans in February 2021, Rootes served briefly as CEO of the two major soccer teams in Houston, the Dynamo and the Dash. After leaving those organizations, Rootes made the decision to get involved in education, serving on faculties at Sam Houston State and the University of Houston in their kinesiology departments. More recently, Rootes had joined the faculty at Rice to help start up their sports analytics program.
As the team’s first president since 2002, Rootes led a Houston Texans business department that sold out 185 consecutive contests, and oversaw a Houston Texans Foundation that raised tens of millions for numerous local charities. On a more personal level, Rootes always said he saw the McNairs as a sort of surrogate family of his. In a statement Monday night, the McNairs said they are “heartbroken” over Rootes’ passing:
On social media, there was an understandable outpouring of emotion and condolences from peers and friends of Rootes:
Rootes’ success n the sports business world started before he arrived in Houston, when he helped start up Columbus’ MLS franchise, serving as the team’s president and general manager. Soccer was a passion of Rootes’, as he was a member of the men’s soccer team at Clemson University and was one of the key people in making Houston a destination for high profile international soccer matches, a trend that eventually helped Houston land a 2026 World Cup bid.
Rootes is survived by his wife, Melissa, and their two children, Chris and Caroline.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
