Jay-Z kicked off his 4:44 tour in Anaheim, California, on Friday, where he addressed some controversial comments made by the owner of an NFL team equating football players to inmates and their teams as prisons.
During a meeting with fellow team-owners, Houston Texans owner Bob McNair addressed the NFL take-a-knee controversy by remarking that “we can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
After outrage ensued, Texans players were reportedly considering a team-wide walkout. “I think the comments were disrespectful, I think it was ignorant, I think it was embarrassing,” said Texans left tackle Duane Brown, reports Sportsnet. “I think it angered a lot of players, including myself. We put our bodies and minds every time we step on the field. To use an analogy of inmates in a prison, I would say they’re disrespectful.”
This led McNair to issue an apology claiming his words were misconstrued, insisting he “was not referring to our players” but rather to “the relationship between the league office and team owners.”
During the Anaheim stop on his 4:44 tour, JAY-Z addressed McNair’s comments, telling the crowd that NFL players are “injuring themselves on the field, giving it all they got. That’s how they look at you. That’s what they think about you. We got so much further to go. The truth is we all believe in whatever you believe in. God, Allah. Whatever you believe in, we come from one source which means we are all brothers and sisters at the end of the day.”
You can see fan-shot video of JAY-Z’s remarks below:
