Texans Michael Thomas says he has always been for the people
Michael Thomas was one of the first NFL players to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality when he was with the Miami Dolphins in 2016.
A team meeting between the Dolphins before their season opener of that season was an eye-opening experience for Thomas on how divided the locker room was regarding police brutality and racism issues.
Now with the Houston Texans and teammates with a familiar face from his Dolphins days, Kenny Stills, Thomas is appreciative to not only be in his hometown but with an organization that allows him not to hide what he stands for as a man.
Thomas met with media in a zoom conference call and discussed his head coach, Bill O'Brien, making a powerful speech supporting his efforts.
"Being new here and hearing Coach O'Brien say that compared to what we've heard in the past," Thomas explained. "The past couple of years when we tried to use our voices and our platforms to speak about these social injustices and unjust murders because and police brutality, I mean, it's so encouraging, because now I don't feel like I have to hide who I am, I don't have to suppress my anger, my frustration which coincides with the rest of the black and the African American community that's been going on for, like he said, over 400 years."
Thomas acknowledged he risked his career in 2016 when he took a knee in solidarity with quarterback Colin Kaepernick to protest police brutality. No matter how the message was twisted in the media, Thomas always had the people suffering in his mind, not himself.
He reflected on that time when he first started kneeling in Miami.
"I think that it does speak volumes to where we were," Thomas said."And we need to have real conversations and address that. Like Coach Bill O'Brien said, admit to the wrong that was done. Colin, myself, Kenny (Stills), Eric Reid, all the players around the league who chose to take a knee, it wasn't for us, it wasn't for our gain, it was for the people."
Thomas added, "It's for the pain that we've been experiencing (as) coach said, and we just want justice. That's the goal."
It has been nearly four years since when Thomas first knelt in opposition to police brutality, he has not knelt the past two seasons with the New York Giants. The Texans safety is still deciding if he will kneel in Houston alongside Stills who did before every game the team took part in 2019.
Thomas acknowledged that he welcomes the new dialogue that has been taking place since the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He has appreciated both J.J. Watt and O'Brien coming out and using their platform to call for reform of the situation at hand.
Thomas wants actual change, and he is hoping for a positive coming from so many speaking out against Floyd's murder.
With so many people not paying attention to why they were taking a knee in 2016, Thomas knows they can't go back in time, but they can continue to work on changing the situation for the better.
"What I will say is real change is what everybody wanted to see, right?" Thomas explained.
"So, admitting that in 2016-2017 that's where we were, just admitting that and saying that, that's where we were," Thomas continued. "Come 2020, there has been change of hearts, change of mindsets. Now, can we ever recover from what happened in 2016, 2017, 2018, can we ever recover from that? I don't know, but I know moving forward if these statements are genuine and true, I love the fact that these players are speaking out and reaching out now and there's stuff we can do for it, great."
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