Janice McNair, widow of Texans founder Bob McNair, has reentered the spotlight as the NFL seeks dismissal of her son Cary McNair’s lawsuit tied to team ownership and family trust control. (Image via Getty) Janice McNair is not a public-facing NFL owner, but her name now sits at the center of one of the league’s most contentious family disputes. The 89-year-old widow of Bob McNair controls the trust that owns the Houston Texans, and her family’s internal power struggle has spilled into courtrooms in New York, Texas, and Nevada.That backdrop matters because the NFL moved this month to dismiss a lawsuit filed by her eldest son, Cary McNair, a case that repeatedly references Janice McNair’s role in the ownership structure. The league’s filing frames the dispute as a family fight that does not belong in court. Cary’s legal team says otherwise. The result is a rare public look into how NFL ownership power actually works.
Janice McNair’s control of the Texans comes from inheritance
Janice McNair inherited her late husband Bob McNair’s 80% stake in the Houston Texans after his death in 2018. Bob McNair bought the franchise in 1999 for $700 million using proceeds from selling his energy company, Cogen Technologies, to Enron for $1.5 billion earlier that year.The Texans were valued at $2.8 billion when Bob McNair died, more than four times the original purchase price. As of Dec. 26, 2025, Forbes estimates Janice McNair and her family’s net worth at $7.3 billion, ranking her No. 515 globally and No. 201 on the Forbes 400.McNair does not run football operations. In 2024, her son Cal McNair was approved by the NFL as the Texans’ principal owner. That approval gave him final authority under league rules. The structure matters because the lawsuit now before the court argues that league approval played a role in pushing Cary McNair out of the family business.
The NFL calls Cary McNair’s lawsuit ‘legally baseless’ as family tensions resurface
On Dec. 13, 2025, the NFL filed a motion to dismiss Cary McNair’s lawsuit in New York Supreme Court. Texans reporter Aaron Wilson first reported the filing.In the motion, the league did not soften its language. NFL counsel wrote that the case was “legally baseless and factually incoherent,” arguing Cary McNair failed to connect his removal from family business roles to any contractual breach or league misconduct.The filing states that Cary McNair is attempting to relitigate a family dispute he has already lost in other courts. The NFL argues it only approved routine ownership changes under its constitution and bylaws and had no involvement in internal decisions made by the McNair family or its private companies.Cary McNair’s lawsuit seeks more than $100 million in damages. His legal team, led by Tony Buzbee, claims the NFL interfered to silence him after he raised concerns about Texans-related scandals, including scrutiny involving minority owner Javier Loya. Loya was accused of sexual abuse in Kentucky in 2023 and later entered an Alford plea in April to a reduced charge of harassment with intent to annoy. The NFL announced Loya’s indefinite suspension this month for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.This conflict predates the league filing. In November 2023, Cary McNair petitioned Harris County Probate Court to have Janice McNair declared incapacitated following a January 2022 stroke. A judge ruled in her favor, and Cary dropped the case. He was later removed from the family trust and business operations.Buzbee has publicly maintained confidence in the lawsuit, stating motions to dismiss often fail. The NFL’s filing signals the league wants the case over. Whether the court agrees will determine if Janice McNair’s name stays tied to this dispute or finally fades back into the background.