Houston Texans co-founder Janice McNair dies at 89

Janice S. McNair, the co-founder and senior chair of the Houston Texans, died on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, in Houston. She was 89. The Texans organization announced her death, stating she passed away peacefully with her family by her side.

McNair, alongside her late husband Robert "Bob" McNair, was instrumental in bringing the National Football League back to Houston after the departure of the Houston Oilers to Tennessee following the 1996 season. The couple founded the Texans, an expansion team that began play in 2002. Following Bob McNair's death in 2018 after a battle with leukemia and squamous cell carcinoma, Janice McNair served as the team's controlling owner for six years before transferring principal ownership to their son, Cal McNair, in the spring of 2024. She remained the franchise's senior chair.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said McNair was a woman of extraordinary generosity, grace, and faith whose impact on the Houston community and the league would be felt for generations. He credited her with playing an essential role in building the Texans into an organization reflecting values of service, integrity, and community commitment.

Her son, Cal McNair, the Texans'...