A warrant was issued for the arrest of Texans minority owner Javier Loya on May 10, 2023. For nearly three months, the entire situation went unnoticed.
It’s an amazing development, especially in today’s society. Everyone knows everything, whenever anything happens. For weeks, however, no one knew anything about this.
The Texans and the NFL did, however. Based on the statement issued by the NFL, the Texans knew about it from the moment it occurred.
“The club promptly notified the league of the serious pending charges against Mr. Loya after they were filed,” the NFL told PFT via email on Monday. “Mr. Loya has not been permitted to participate in any league or club activity during this process. He is no longer on any league committees.”
The team and the league knew, but the team and the league said nothing. Perhaps they were simply waiting for an inevitable media inquiry. Still, if the league continues to believe that owners and other members of club and league management are held to a “higher standard,” hunkering down in the face of such serious charges (one count of rape, five counts of first-degree sexual abuse, one count of third-degree sexual abuse) would not seem to be an acceptable option.
Really, when would anyone have known anything about any of this? PFT received a tip last night and went to work on confirming it. It required multiple calls, texts, and emails to the team and the league before getting confirmation that Loya faces those charges, roughly 12 hours after the effort to confirm the charges commenced.
It shouldn’t be that way. Transparency and accountability isn’t a shell game. The Texans and/or the NFL should have announced the charges at the time the arrest warrant was issued — especially since the league responded by removing him from all committees.
It’s a small point, in the grand scheme of things. But it’s critical. If it were a player, we would have known about it when it happened. Since it’s an owner, there was an extended exercise by the team and the league in keeping their heads low and their mouths shut.
