Houston Texans: Tackling Life, Social Issues, Sports with Justin Reid

Q: Speaking football-wise, you know your brother’s play style more than anyone. If he were to get signed by the Houston Texans, how would you see him fitting into this defense?

A: If my brother were to sign I see him being a dime backer and the other starting safety. His ability to read coverages, learn the playbook, he really is a bigger version of me. He’s got more power, a little more aggressive, a little more of a harder hitter. The communication and chemistry we’d have together would be on another level like nothing the NFL has ever seen. I know there is a couple of siblings, I don’t know how many of them have both started on the defense at the same time. With how close we are, how much we would be able to attack the intellectual side of the game as well as the physical side of the game.

Talking ball all the time, I would go over to his house and eat dinner with his family and him and my nieces. We’d just be talking ball about the game plan that’s happening that week. We’d be able to do all types of things that are out of the box because we would be so willing to put in so much extra time into it. Just because we would be hanging out all the time anyway. It would be an unbelievable chance if that were to happen. It would be one of the coolest and most dominant tandems that would enter into the NFL.

Q: Speaking on the current issues we are going through. There is a reason why NFL players have protested in the past. How do you cope with them, how do you express them from your platform and how do you feel you should go about it?

A: See that’s the golden question. Because what Colin, my brother, and some many others like Kenny Stills and Michael Thomas have done from the get-go. What is the best way to get the message across as many people as possible but also do it in a respectable way?

It’s sad that in 2016-2017, there was actually a Green Beret, a former military officer was the one that came up with the idea that we should kneel during the anthem. So all the talk is a controlling narrative over the flag. It’s not about disrespecting the military. It’s just about a voice of speaking of police brutality. They came up with the idea that we are going to kneel during the anthem, it’s not going to mess with anything during the field of play, it’s not going to mess with the game.

So my feelings with coping with what is happening are honestly very difficult because I am still trying to figure out ways to get the message across in a way that will be receptive to everyone. But no matter what you do, some are going to find issues with it. It’s a golden question to find out the best way to get the message across right now and honestly I’m still trying to search for it.

I’m happy that the message seems is finally starting to get across America. I’m sad that it took as much violence and rioting for people to start hearing the message, and that people are starting to reflect upon on how awesome it was that players peacefully protested early in the year.

But they didn’t want to hear whenever it was peaceful, and not that I’m supporting violence. I’m just sad that it took violence for people to start respecting the way the protests were done peacefully four years ago.

Q: Media such as books and films shape and influence our lives. Are there any other books you’ve read that helped you become more aware as a person on these issues?

A: My older brother, Ryan, took a lot of classes in American history, like the not so pretty side of it while he was in college. Eric and he started teaching me about Black Wall Street, the bombers that happened in Tulsa, and how the whole community was bombed, the things that have happened in Philadelphia over the years. Just when you start researching those topics then it becomes a snowball effect, and from that link, you jump to another link.

It’s just about having conversations with people. Colin being a friend of mine and Eric being my older brother, I have the opportunity to talk to them and their team of things that have happened in the country. Even systematically, when it comes to how government lines are drawn so that way domestic city tax dollars are funded throughout communities distributed on how the lines are drawn on each of the cities.

Especially how they have recently been redrawn in Louisiana because the affluent part of Baton Rouge was tired of having to pay tax dollar money for the whole city so they created their own county within themselves so that their tax dollars could fund their needs, the poverty-stricken areas could stick to themselves. At the detriment of the other side of the city.

I just heard stories throughout the way as far as books and documentaries. There a ton of them, it really is a combinations of them and honestly Google.