Houston kicker Novak horrified by Charlottesville violence

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) Houston Texans kicker Nick Novak, who grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, is horrified by what happened in his hometown this past weekend.

Novak discussed the situation with reporters at Texans camp two days after a car crashed into a crowd of people peacefully protesting a white nationalist rally, killing one person and injuring more than a dozen others.

''I pray for those guys, the people that were injured,'' he said. ''It's the devil's work what's going on there and it's horrible.''

Novak moved to Charlottesville in fifth grade and remained there until he graduated from high school.

''I just think it's terrible,'' he said. ''That's not how I was raised and it makes me emotional to talk about.''

Novak is shocked that something like this is happening in 2017 in the place where he was raised.

''I don't believe in anything that's going on there ... the white nationalists, those are racists in my opinion,'' he said. ''I've heard the word Nazi and all these hate groups that are being mentioned through the media and that's what they are. These people need to be taken care of. And there's no place in this society now. You hope and pray that it has changed from the way it used to be and it used to be terrible.''

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