For the last several years, the NFL Players Association (fancy name for the “players’ union”) has conducted a survey of their members as to how their various employers, the 32 NFL teams, are performing in all aspects of their business — facilities, coaching hires, home field advantage, treatment of families, and more.
After these surveys were conducted, the union would publish the results on their website and various social media platforms. For some franchises, this was fine. They were painted in a positive light. For other franchises, this was viewed as shade, if not bullying, by the union, as they were painted in a super negative light.
In the end, the owners collectively took the union to court to prevent them from directly publishing the results, and were successful, Well, they were successful, in that they won their litigation, Their “success,” though is a little overrated in that if the players aren’t allowed to directly publish the survey results, they can just hand them to a trusted media member, and let him or her publish them.
Thus, here we are! Congratulations to ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler, who was able to procure the grades for all 32 teams in the 17 relevant categories. The Houston Texans finished 7th overall out of the 32 teams. Here is their itemized report card:
Treatment of Families: B-
Home Game Field: C+
Food/Dining Area: A
Nutritionist/Dietician: A
Locker Room: B+
Training Room: A
Training Staff: A
Weight Room: A
Strength Coaches: A
Position Coaches: B+
Offensive Coordinator: A-
Defensive Coordinator: A
Special Teams Coordinator: A
Team Travel: B-
Head Coach: A-
General Manager: A-
Team Ownership: A
Okay, a few thoughts here:
Texans players seem really confident in leadership at all the upper levels
The only link in the chain of management that got below an A- was the group of position coaches, who scored a still respectable B+. It seems as though the Texans love their head coach (A- for DeMeco Ryans), love their coordinators (two A’s and an A-), love the job their GM is doing (A- for Nick Caserio), and are very happy with ownership (A for the McNairs). This trend has held up over time, particularly with ownership, as the McNairs have long been viewed as a family that has given the players and staff the resources they need to be successful.
The lowest Texans grade makes sense
The Texans’ report card is, as you can see, largely a smattering of mostly A’s, a few B’x, and grade below a B level. Their home field got a C+, which is probably a good indicator as to why there are going to be substantial stadium conversations coming up over the next few years. Also, if I had to guess, I would imagine the players are acknowledging the Houston condition of late arriving crowds. This isn’t just a Texans thing, but also a Rockets and Astros thing.
Ownership is providing resources at an A level and it only gets better
Reiterating what I said a couple paragraphs ago, the McNairs are widely viewed as an ownership group that gives the players what they need. They’ve routinely grade out with flying colors in this annual exercise. Now, add in the fact that they are contributing tens of millions of dollars to a new headquarters and practice facility on the north side of town. That’s impressive.
I really need to know what’s happening in Pittsburgh
So, in the aggregate, the Texans finished pretty high on the list, seventh overall. The Miami Dolphins, who ironically haven’t won a playoff game since 2000, finished first, and the Pittsburgh Steelers, a blue blood franchise if there ever was one, finished in dead last. The funny thing about the Steelers’ grade is the collection of components that scored and F or lower. Yeah, you read that right — LOWER than an F! How about these grades:
Treatment of Families: F
Home Game Field: F-
Locker Room: F-
Team Travel: F
Team Ownership: D-
So, according to this report card, the Steelers treat player families like crap, have an awful home field, a terrible locker room, and force their players into poverty travel conditions. Sounds awesome!