Houston’s former tackle Duane Brown, who was traded to the Seattle Seahawks after he held out at the start of 2017, opened up about how he feels about the Texans organization.
“It was bigger than football for me at that point,” Brown said, via Matt Young of chron.com. “I was disrespected. I can’t walk in that building and only play football. You have to interact with these people at some point. I’m not one of those people that can fake my way through that (stuff). I can’t. It was too far gone, and the departure was needed. It had nothing to do with me wanting to get out of Houston or leave my teammates. Not at all.”
Brown, who was an original first-round pick from 2008, said that things started to turn bad after he failed a drug test in 2015. He also said there was turmoil when he protested the National Anthem in 2016.
At the start of the 2017 season, Brown said he wanted a new contract, but the Texans did not want to discuss an extension with him. As such, Brown held out on his team until Week 6. This was also the same week that owner Bob McNair made some derogatory comments that the league should not let the “inmates run the prison.”
Brown then publicly spoke out about McNair’s remarks.
“I had to voice my displeasure. There was so many other people who wanted to but that fear factor was there. But I was like ‘(screw it), you don’t have to, I will.'”
Not long after this, the Texans pulled off a trade that sent Brown to the Seahawks. Throughout his career with Houston, the four-time Pro-Bowler played in a total of 133 games.
Once in Seattle, Brown closed out 2017 with nine games as a Seahawk. He provided a boost the Seahawks needed on what was one of the weakest offensive lines in the league.
Brown is signed with Seattle through the 2018 season.