Justin Reid used to frequent his older brother's house to watch NFL game film and study game preparations.
The Texans rookie safety was at Stanford then
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Earlier this week, the NFL players union filed a non-injury grievance on behalf of Eric Reid, now a free agent after five seasons in San Francisco, including a Pro Bowl rookie season in 2013. Eric Reid has been a strong supporter of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who in 2016 became the first player to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial inequality.
Last week, Eric Reid filed a collusion claim similar to one filed by Kaepernick in 2017 where several league owners and executives were deposed, including Texans owner Bob McNair.
Justin Reid said he he hasn't had a lot of time to digest his feelings on his brother's decisions 鈥?but he supports all of them.
"I'm proud of my brother and supportive of everything he does, the same way I support all of my family members," Justin Reid said. "If they believe what they're doing is right, then they should do it."
Asked to describe for NFL owners what kind of person his older brother is
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"You should just hold a conversation with him," Justin Reid said. "I won't speak for Eric, I'll let him deliver his own message. But if you held a conversation with him, then you'd really understand what he's standing for."
The Texans used their first draft pick on Justin Reid, selecting him 68th overall in the third round. He is expected to compete with Andre Hal at free safety next to strong safety Tyrann Mathieu, who played alongside Eric Reid at LSU.
Coach Bill O'Brien praised Justin Reid for his size, speed and smarts. Reid raised eyebrows at the NFL combine with a 40-yard dash time of 4.40 seconds, second-fastest among safeties.
"He's a guy that's a versatile guy who can do some different things for us, help us on special teams and obviously, help us on defense," O'Brien said. "He just got here, so we'll see how he does in our system."
Reid is hoping that his experience of living vicariously through his brother over the past few years will help him adjust to the NFL. He said he feels like he's coming into the league with the mentality of a third-year veteran. He said he watched the Texans' most recent five games from last season and has been studying the playbook to enter camp as prepared as possible.
"I kind of have a feel for how this process goes before having even gone through it
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Seahawks coach Pete Carroll wanted to be talking about football matters 鈥?Seattle's recommitment to the run game, the addition of two new coordinators, almost anything to do with what happens between the lines.
Instead, the league's oldest coach has spent the past few days processing and discussing the league's new mandate that players on the field stand for the national anthem. Carroll, his players and those around the NFL are now trying to figure out how to tackle the polarizing topic in the locker room.
"We're going to have to deal with that," Carroll said. "I was kind of liking the way it was going and so now it's kind of taken out of the control from the coach and the players and the locker room to a certain extent, so we're going to have to deal with that. In time, we'll figure it out."
Players from Seattle, Buffalo, Denver and New Orleans were among those grappling with how to move forward following the league's announcement Wednesday of a new national anthem policy, which will fine teams if players on the field are not standing for the anthem. Players wishing to continue demonstrations like the kneeling movement sparked by Colin Kaepernick to protest social injustice will be allowed to remain in the locker room during the anthem.
Seattle's Doug Baldwin had the most striking comments, directed at both the league and President Donald Trump after his remarks to "Fox & Friends" on Thursday saying "maybe you shouldn't be in the country" if you don't stand for the anthem.
"He's an idiot. Plain and simple
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Even normally reserved Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson agreed with the sentiment that the owners' decision was a message to players to essentially be quiet.
"Pretty much. I think that's part of it. It seems that way," Wilson said. "But I think a policy right or wrong is not going to fix our problems."
The new policy allows teams to adopt their own workplace rules, which many players interpreted as a backhanded way of subjecting them to fines, suspensions or loss of jobs should they carry on with the protests.
Players are also frustrated the league didn't consult with the players' association before announcing the policy.
"I mean, they weren't ever going to engage us anyway. When you really think about it, why would we have a say-so?" Denver linebacker Brandon Marshall said. "I think they should have, right, but I guess they don't look at us like that, to have a say-so or input in this policy."
Others around the league didn't see the policy as a potential issue.
"I'm really not too worried about it. I would expect that everybody's gonna be out there with their hand over their heart
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But teammate Demario Davis had mixed emotions about the policy. His father served in the military, but he also understands why players have been protesting.
"I just think that when you love something 鈥?you care about it 鈥?you want to work to get it right. I love my children. When they do wrong things, I'm going to let them know they're doing wrong things. I'm not just going to sweep it under the rug because I love them," Davis said.
"I think that's the difference between patriotism and nationalism. Nationalism is loving your country just to love it, you know, even when it's right or wrong, you're going to take the side of your country. Patriotism is loving it enough to sacrifice for it, but also to call it (out) when it's wrong.
"The people who are speaking up for the people who are hurting have a deep love and devotion for our country. That's kind of gotten misconstrued at times. But it's important for people to understand that."
The decision by the owners was an attempt to quell a firestorm by moving protests away from the public eye and potentially lure back disgruntled fans. But in the process they may have disgruntled their employees and rekindled what appeared to be an issue that was dying down.
"With this policy, with the inflammatory statement that Roger Goodell put out (Wednesday) again you opened the door for response and again to my point earlier, I think they missed it on that one," Baldwin said.
AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton and AP Sports Writer Brett Martel contributed to this report.
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