Tony Buzbee has become well-known in NFL circles for representing clients against Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson. Buzbee now has a client who is targeting the NFL.
In a letter dated September 8, a copy of which PFT has obtained, Buzbee requests mediation from Commissioner Roger Goodell on behalf of Cary McNair, the son of late Texans founder Robert McNair and the brother of Texans owner Cal McNair.
The five-page document accuses the league and Cal McNair of “engineer\[ing\] the ouster” of Cary McNair from the Texans and other McNair family business interests.
The letter vows that, absent a resolution, Buzbee and Cary McNair will proceed in court and not in the NFL’s preferred forum of arbitration ultimately controlled by Goodell, citing the recent rulings in cases brought by Jon Gruden and Brian Flores striking down NFL efforts to compel arbitration.
Cary McNair’s potential case centers on a March 2024 letter agreement regarding the termination of his employment relationship with the McNair family businesses. Buzbee accuses the league of colluding with Cal McNair to harm the interests of Cary McNair.
“Although it is clear that both the NFL and Cal McNair conspired to eliminate Cary McNair, it will be interesting to ferret out who came up with the specific plan,” Buzbee writes. “I want to know what lies Cal McNair told the NFL about his brother Cary. I intend to find out why the NFL chose to go out on a limb and take action that it knew would harm my client, while at the same time subjecting the NFL to liability.”
Buzbee offers a couple of possible theories for the league’s decision to allegedly harm Cary McNair’s interests.
“The NFL had no issues with Cary McNair until he started asking pointed questions that potentially implicated the NFL and its personnel,” Buzbee writes. “Specifically, Cary McNair spoke out about the Deshaun Watson scandal and questioned the Texans’ handling of it. He also inquired about why the Texans paid to settle thirty Deshaun Watson cases within months of them being filed, without any investigation or putting up a fight at all. Cary McNair also questioned the leadership of the Texans (Cal McNair was ostensibly in charge at the time, even though Janice McNair was the named Owner’s Rep) about what was known, and when it was known. Cary McNair wondered aloud how the Texans could claim ignorance of the Watson situation when the organization itself provided rooms and massage tables for Watson’s use. When Cary McNair raised these serious issues, he was repeatedly silenced.”
Buzbee also points to the sexual assault scandal involving Texans minority owner Javier Loya.
“That scandal included an allegation of rape and six counts of alleged sexual abuse,” Buzbee writes. “Cary McNair wondered why he could get no response as to how the NFL publicly claimed to have initiated a formal investigation, yet never published any conclusions. He also questioned how the Texans organization could publicly state that Mr. Loya was not involved with the Texans, when Mr. Loya remained in (and still remains in) an ownership position.”
Buzbee also attacks Cal McNair’s fitness to serve as the controlling owner of the Texans.
“It is a widely known fact in Houston that Cal McNair is unqualified to be an Owner’s Representative; the NFL knows it as well,” Buzbee writes. “Indeed, despite what he has had placed on certain websites, Cal McNair is not even a college graduate. Yet Cal McNair interestingly now claims he obtained an MBA from the prestigious Rice University, although the Rice administration office has stated quite clearly that an individual lacking an undergraduate degree is ineligible to receive a Rice MBA. (Perhaps an exception was made for Cal McNair due to a well-timed charitable donation by his parents?; we will figure that out in due course.)”
Much will be figured out, barring a settlement. Buzbee has given Goodell until September 19 to arrange a meeting and a possible mediation.
“The NFL’s interference has caused my client Mr. McNair more than $60 million in direct financial losses,” Buzbee writes. “Because I believe the NFL’s conduct to be willful and malicious, I intend to ask a Houston jury to award many times that amount as punitive damages.”
We’ll see where it goes from here. For now, Buzbee has decided to take a big swing at Big Shield. Win or lose, it could end up being a big mess.