Janice McNair, the co-founder and former owner of the NFL’s Texans, has died, the team announced Tuesday in a statement. 

She was 89. 

“It is with profound sadness that we announce Houston Texans Co-Founder and Senior Chair Janice S. McNair passed away peacefully in Houston this afternoon with her family by her side,” the statement read. 

She played a key role in bringing an NFL team back to Houston and became the Texans’ principal owner after her husband Bob McNair’s death in 2018.

She then transferred ownership to her son, Cal McNair. 

“Mom was exceptional. She exuded kindness, radiated joy, had an endless amount of hope and love, and lived an incredible life centered around faith, family, philanthropy and football,” Cal said. “It’s impossible to describe the profound gratitude that my sisters, Ruth and Melissa, and I feel for having her as our mom. Outside of our family, nothing mattered more to her than her beloved Texans.

“I remain honored to lead this franchise and build on the foundation my parents set when they brought football back to Houston.

Since their inception in 2002, the Texans are 174-214-1 with eight AFC South titles and seven playoff wins. 

While the Texans struggled to start the 2020s, they’ve become a perennial playoff contender in large part due to head coach DeMeco Ryans, who played for the team when Bob McNair owned the club from 2005-11. 

“Mrs. McNair was an incredible woman who will be deeply missed. As a player, she and Mr. McNair built an organization that felt like a family and it was a true honor to play for them,” Ryans said in a statement. 

“I will always remember the day I came home to Houston in 2023. Mrs. McNair welcomed me back into the Texans family with open arms and her signature warm smile. We shared the same vision of bringing the organization to new heights and I will continue to work every day to accomplish that goal.”