Houston Texans will allow players to attend George Floyd funeral

The Houston Texans are giving players June 9 off and canceling team meetings so that club personnel can attend the funeral of George Floyd, the unarmed African American man who was killed while in Minneapolis police custody on May 25. 

Floyd's memorial will occur in Houston. 

As ESPN's Sarah Barshop reported, Texans head coach Bill O'Brien spoke about Floyd's untimely and unnecessary death with reporters on Wednesday:

"We stand by you, and we are ready to do our part in this community. I think everyone has to admit their mistakes along the way. We all have to stand up and understand that what is going on in this country right now is wrong. It's wrong. Relative to many, many things.

"It's not just police brutality, although that's what we're talking about right now. It's corporate America. It's professional sports. It's the medical area. It's the legal area. We all have to do our part. We all have to do it now.

"It's 400 years ago [when Africans were brought to the colonies as slaves]. It's segregation. It's police brutality. It's not equal opportunities. It's so much deeper. ... And we have to stand with the black community, and we have to heed the call to action and challenge each other to live out the change that we want to see. I'm emotional. ... I'm sad. I'm frustrated because I'm questioning, 'What can I do?' I've got to do more."

In 2018, O'Brien backed players kneeling during renditions of the Star-Spangled Banner to protest social injustices and police violence against African Americans. 

Per Barshop, O'Brien said:

"I’ve said this many times before that we all have our own opinion on things. And when it comes to the players' right to express themselves, I’m always for that. "I think the players in this league, the players on our team, they have educated, intelligent opinions on what’s going on socially in the world.

"It’s a very divided country right now. So I think the more we can listen right now, the more we can talk about these things, I think we can come and find some common ground. I think the problem is, we just don’t talk enough about it now."