SMITH: O’BRIEN’S VIEWS ON DIVIDE BETWEEN POLITICS, FOOTBALL

Bill O’Brien reached back to his youth and described a worldview that, instead of just seeing skin color, tried to discover what was inside a person’s heart.

“I grew up in a family that made sure that we all understood the rights of people,” O’Brien said Tuesday.

The Texans’ coach also said this a day after a dozen Cleveland players knelt in prayer during a pregame national anthem: “This organization believes strongly in the national anthem and believes in standing for the national anthem.”

Would a Texan be allowed to protest Saturday night in New Orleans before preseason game No. 3 or prior to a Week 1 kickoff Sept. 10 at NRG Stadium? Does Houston’s pro football team have an internal policy that addresses the national anthem?

It’s 2017 in America, so, of course, it’s a little complicated.

“I believe in everyone’s right to free speech,” O’Brien said. “I do think that there’s a separation between politics and football.”

O’Brien gave a strong, honest and personal answer to the NFL’s anthem question that just won’t go away. Little to no coachspeak. A glimpse inside the mind of a man who’s much deeper than no, nope and yes.

“To find out what it meant to trust somebody,” said O’Brien, referring to the lessons of his youth. “Were they loyal? Were they good people? It had nothing to do with what they looked like.”

Several of his players stressed that everyone wearing red, white and blue has the freedom to do or say what they want — while also acknowledging top-down franchise guidelines that are expected to be followed.

“I respect anyone who wants to voice an opinion. And honestly, I think everybody should,” linebacker Whitney Mercilus said. “There’s a right to free speech, and that’s something that we have to all respect. There’s a smart way to do it, to go about it, and now, more than ever, we need to have the conversation — honestly —instead

of hiding behind closed doors, instead of … keeping your mouth shut or lip tight. That’s just as bad as the one who’s out there provoking all the stuff.”

But Mercilus — who was adamant that NFL players are more than simple athletes — was less certain when asked if a Texan could protest the anthem.

“I don’t know. Man, I don’t know the answer to that, honestly,” he said. “But man, the biggest thing for that, look, you’re entitled to your own opinion. You can do it in whatever setting or event that you feel that it’s fit. And man, just Godspeed, and hopefully it works out for the best. But if you’re able to open up the entire society to allow for that, we just need to be able to stand united. That’s it.”

Veteran linebacker Brian Cushing, who has strong military ties, echoed his coach.

“If anything, it would be just discussed in this organization and how much we respect the national anthem,” Cushing said. “But at the same time, we respect everybody’s rights. So obviously, there are individual decisions on what to do. But no matter what a teammate does, we have their back.”

Veteran cornerback Johnathan Joseph sees both sides of the issue. He also believes that if a Texan decided to protest during the anthem, a player “absolutely” would be allowed to stand up for his personal beliefs.

“Us as players, we have a platform. As long as you go about it in a positive manner, I’m all for it,” Joseph said. “You never want to disrespect anybody or disrespect this country in any way, form or fashion. Right now, if you can raise awareness and go about it the right way, your teammates would more than go out of their way to help you and support you and have your back.”

Brown’s raised fist

Duane Brown raised his fist on the Texans’ sideline during the anthem before a loss at New England last season. The Pro Bowl left tackle is a preseason holdout in 2017 and hasn’t spoken to the media about his status. But his most recent Twitter posts touched on Michael Vick’s controversial comments that Colin Kaepernick needed to cut his hair for the unsigned quarterback to land another NFL job.

“My heart hurts,” Brown tweeted July 17, above a video of Vick.

“If you know anything about Duane, he’s big into (social issues) and he does a lot of work and puts a lot of time into it. He’s well-educated about it,” Joseph said. “So any time you can check off all those boxes in that category, you definitely have the right to go out there and do what he did last year.”

Two weeks after Brown’s raised fist, Texans owner Bob McNair, president Jamey Rootes, general manager Rick Smith and several players met with Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner and civic leaders to devise a plan for the organization to help improve the community.

Brown, who attended the meeting, said he stood for the anthem to show love for his country but raised his fist in solidarity with people fighting injustice in the same country.

“While I play a game I love and one that’s provided a great lifestyle for me and my family, I’m very conscious and very aware of what’s going on in other communities,” Brown said. “It hits home, everything that’s happening.”

A year after ESPN started running a weekly “players who protested during the national anthem” story, Kaepernick reportedly won’t protest the anthem if he’s signed. A rally featuring New York cops was held in his name last week, while a protest by Texas A&M product Michael Bennett followed the racial violence in Charlottesville, Va. Monday night in Cleveland, a dozen Browns united in prayer as the anthem played.

Unity, not divisiveness

The overall message has become stronger and more powerful a year later — more about love and unity than divided sides. Doing anything other than standing during the anthem is also still highly divisive and overplayed by the media — several national sports websites seemingly can’t go a day without a protest headline — and Marshawn Lynch is now sitting without saying why.

“From my personal standpoint, standing for the national anthem, that’s something that I believe in big-time,” said Texans tackle Kendall Lamm, who attended the team’s meeting with Houston civic leaders last October. “I had grandfathers, great grandfathers, uncles who went and protected this country and protected us so we can do what we do every day. So I stand for that.

“But at the same time, for each individual, they choose to do what they want to do. And I respect their decision, because who am I to say that what another man believes in is wrong? But from my personal standpoint and, as you can tell, an organizational standpoint, we stand for the national anthem.”

With one simple sentence, Mercilus said it best: “We don’t have to fight each other.”