We [Cleveland Browns] are from the same segments of America that everyone else is from. We have the same diversity, the same mix, so we don't run away from issues amongst each other, because we're brothers and we have to build that bond because we're always on the quest to be world champions. That's always our quest, and if you don't have that bond, it's not going to happen. So I guess every locker room is different, but our locker room I think is more than fine.

Whatever backlash I was going to get, whatever consequence there was for stating my opinion, I was OK with. Because I look at my son's eyes, I look at the eyes of my daughter, and I would be a bad dad if my No. 1 goal wasn't always to put them in the best situation as possible.

I'm in a unique situation. I'm 5-foot-6, 175 pounds, so I wouldn't say people are super afraid of me. I live a normal life. I don't walk into a room and everybody looks at me and says, "He plays for the Cleveland Browns" or "He's an NFL superstar" - that doesn't happen. I go under the radar. Most people don't realize who I am until I tell them. So it's not like my life has changed since I've been in the NFL or people treat me any different.

I was always the underdog that everyone identified with, and I still think I'm that way. But if you're on the other side of the fence on a certain issue, your opinion is going to change. And that was the part I was scared of, because I built my reputation on being this guy who's all about football - and I am, and I'm still the same guy, that doesn't change.

I understood that there would be some backlash, and that scared me, honestly. But deep down, I felt like it was the right thing to do. And if I was to run away from what I felt in my soul was the right thing to do, that would make me a coward. I can’t live with that. God wouldn’t be able to put me where I am today, and as far as I’ve come in life, if I was a coward.

I'm very much still connected to the way that I've always been perceived. And it happens. I'm not trying to play up anything, it is true. I've walked by numerous cars where they've locked the doors, I get into an elevator and someone moves out of the way. I've been to a place where some people think their children shouldn't play with my children. And that breaks my heart.

We [Cleveland Browns] are from the same segments of America that everyone else is from. We have the same diversity, the same mix, so we don't run away from issues amongst each other, because we're brothers and we have to build that bond because we're always on the quest to be world champions. That's always our quest, and if you don't have that bond, it's not going to happen. So I guess every locker room is different, but our locker room I think is more than fine.