After an April game against the Los Angeles Galaxy, Ike Opara put on a black T-shirt befitting the type of man he strives to be.

In Minnesota United’s dressing room, the outspoken center back’s message in all-caps reads: “Be a good person.”

Opara was a key man in Minnesota’s offseason overhaul and has since become a vocal influence in the locker room. The Loons traded up to $1 million to Sporting Kansas City in exchange for Opara, who had become one of MLS’ best defenders since 2017.

In a 25-minute interview with the Pioneer Press last week, Opara confirmed his exit from Kansas was precipitated by going into the office of sporting director and head coach Peter Vermes after last season and asking for a raise.

“Yeah, it happened,” Opara said. “But I will leave our discussion out of it because we have a good relationship.”

Opara and the Loons now face Sporting K.C. in a U.S. Open Cup fourth-round match at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allianz Field. In the midweek reunion, Opara plans to follow Vermes’ request from when the trade took place in January.

“ ‘If you ever act like you don’t know me, I’m going to be upset.’ That is what he said to me,” Opara relayed. “I said, ‘Fair enough. You don’t have to worry about that.’ We went through a lot together, and it will be good to see him.”

After three tough years with the San Jose Earthquakes, Kansas is where Opara began to feel comfortable in speaking his mind on issues from race to politics, with his underlying objective being equality. Two weeks ago, he and his fiancee, Erin, were married, and her roles in education have also shaped who Opara wants to be.

Here are excerpts from the interview with Opara:

How would you describe yourself as a teammate?

“With respect first and foremost. I like to banter a lot. I think that is what gets people going a bit. I just try to be myself and be authentic and respectful. I’m unapologetic at times, and I think people appreciate the honesty… . The locker room is probably one of my favorite parts of being a professional player, just being able to mingle with so many different people and cultures. It’s unique and cool.”

Fellow center back Michael Boxall said Opara’s discussions often come with Eric Miller and Ethan Finlay. Miller said Opara has been “fantastic” addition to the locker room.

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New Loons star Emanuel Reynoso brings his lifelong ‘fight’ to fresh start in Minnesota Opara wasn’t willing to dish on specific topics but added, “Nothing is safe. … Anything current event or something that happened in a practice or a game, off the field, funny stories that need to be shared. Sometimes it’s not yours to share, so you keep it to yourself, but at times when you get a chance, you step in and get some shtick with the guys. I think I’m pretty good with that.”

His teammates have given it back. Once Opara started wearing headgear after a head-to-head collision in the Allainz Field opener in April, someone wrote “Daddy” on athletic tape and stuck it to the headgear. “They hatin’!!!” Opara wrote on Instagram.

In Kansas City, you did a podcast with Star reporter Sam McDowell that touched on a lot of topics. Why have you been so open in not sticking to sports?”

“For me, it’s always been stupid, that mantra of ‘sticking to sports.’ Like I said on one of the podcasts, I don’t tell a doctor to stick to medicine. I don’t tell a teacher to stick to teaching. I don’t tell anyone — because we are all citizens of this country, and we all have an opinion and a voice and platforms. It’s your choice how you decide to use it.

… I’m a black man in America. During the Charlottesville (white nationalists’) rally (in 2017), I’m not going to be there saying, ‘I’m Ike Opara, the soccer player, and that’s OK. All good.’

No. Those people don’t think I deserve to have the same space on this planet as them.”

Saw you considered kneeling during the national anthem to protest police brutality (since 2016). Why did you decide to not do it?

“For me, it was I had to at least give it an honest view and see the pros and the cons behind doing it. I wasn’t sure how deep I got into whether I was going to do it or not, but for me, I had an in-depth conversation with those close to me and myself, it was a honest look into why I would or wouldn’t have done it. I think my problem was at the end of the day, living with the consequences, yes. It was how am I going to continue going on?

I didn’t have an answer for that for myself, so I didn’t feel right to do it. I know what the initial shock would have done, and that is what would have been important.

But for me another thing is how would I have kept it going. I didn’t have a clear answer, so that was one of the reasons at the end of the day why I decided not to do it.”

Saw you put the consequences of maybe doing it was that it might be your last year. Was that in reference to former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who no longer plays after the protest?

“Yeah, at the end of the day, they can spin it however they want to, but he hasn’t played a down since that year. You can say whatever you want about him as a player, but I have a hard time believing he can’t make a roster in the NFL when you see some of the people that have been recycled. It’s pretty clear it’s blackballing. I’m going to call a spade a spade there. That’s the NFL and their prerogative and what’s been done. You also have to think about what is the consequence for it in MLS?”

So to that point, what is it like being a black man in MLS?

“It’s a fluid situation. … Before the podcast, at some point, I became someone that a lot of black players reached out to before or after games. (They) had questions. I’m not going to say I’m the leading caucus behind it or anything like that — there is a respect that I will discuss issues if need be. I will stand up if need be, and it doesn’t need to be public. I’ve had guys ask me questions through text or call me and just get my insight on some of the things that you can face in the MLS or just in soccer. That has been pretty cool over my time. I never would have envisioned that when I started 10 years ago, but here I am.”

Where there racist undertones or overt issues?

“There has been nothing glaring that I’ve had to say, ‘Whoa.’ But it’s always one of those — to step away from that. There is always an unspoken bond and especially when you’ve made it in any sport, but soccer for a handful of seasons, there is that unspoken respect.”

What do you try to pass on to those seeking advice?

“I just try to let people know that you can be yourself. You don’t have to cater to the masses, just try to enjoy the moment. You are going to get a lot of respect for who you are and if you are respectful as well and to have a little bit of personality because in sports it’s never a bad thing.”

Why are you part of Playing For Pride? (It is a cause that raises money and provides advocacy for LGBTQ rights through soccer.)

“If I preach equity, I’m not going to go picking and choosing which ones are more important. I think if I’m truly preaching equity, then Playing For Pride is one of those aspects that needs to be addressed. … We all have this legislative, grand idea that we want to change the world and do this and that, sometimes it’s the person next to you that needs a reset or a idea of what it’s like to live in someone else’s shoes. …

I will never know what it’s like to be gay. … But Collin Martin (Opara’s gay teammate) will never know what it’s like to be a black man in America, but to try to have ideas and understandings of that is the best you can do.”

When you came to Minnesota, people brought up he’s 30 and has an injury history. How to you respond to that?

“It can be tough because no one wants to be labeled as that, no one tries to go out there and get hurt. No one really knows what happened. … I would rather them say whatever about me as a soccer player than as a person. At the end of the day, I don’t lose sleep over it. … I can’t go back and change the past and if I could, I would. It’s who I am and it got me to where I am today in a lot of aspects.”

You have a history of concussions, so what was your reaction to your head-to-head collision in the Allianz Field opener in April?

“It’s scary at the end of the day because it’s one of those things. It’s you don’t know if it’s going to impact your life down the road. You go worst-case scenario when it happens because you see what has happened, especially in football. So when it happens, I was praying it wasn’t, and luckily it wasn’t. It was more the (seven) stitches that were a problem. I do worry, and I think especially Americans worry who have the education behind it.

I think it’s on everyone’s mind when it’s a head-to-head. I look around the league now and I will see guys get head-to-heads or elbows-to-heads and people coming out left and right. It’s like, man, it’s not just me. Everyone is at risk. I just try to be smart about it.”

What influence did Vermes and Kansas City have on your career?

“He played my position, which was nice, and he did it at a high level and he’s obviously in the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame. He had a lot of tips for me and preaching consistency. … It was a recharge from San Jose. Right off the bat, it was a good relationship. It was an organization that strives to be the best and the expectations there at times could be out of this world, but it was something that was in my wiring. I wanted to try to achieve the impossible standards at times that were set. It was very helpful for my career.”

What will it be like playing your former team for the first time?

“I think it’s going to be a little bit different because it’s the Open Cup, with international breaks. … So I think maybe the importance doesn’t seem to be there at the moment, but I think there is going to be — it might hit me before that game. It might hit me in the regular-season games (in August and September). It will be somewhat emotional at some point.”

As a veteran with a history of winning, what are you trying to bring to Minnesota?

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New Loons star Emanuel Reynoso brings his lifelong ‘fight’ to fresh start in Minnesota “A level of expectation. Trying to bring a winning mentality first and foremost is one of the things I’m trying to bring. We can win here and I want everyone to believe that we should win here. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still tough because I’ve moved, obviously have gotten married, I did my move in two parts with my wife. I’ve been living a chaotic first four or five months. Off the field has kind of wore me down a bit, so to bring it every single day here has been a challenge. It’s been one that I’m trying to step up to.

I’ve had some good days here, but there are days I look at myself and tell myself, ‘I need to be better for the group and I should be better.’ Initially I’ve done that, but as these summer months come, it’s a matter of getting our second wave. We need to start taking the next steps because it’s going to be a grind. … I think and it going to be on myself and Ozzie (Alonso) and some of the international guys in Jan (Gregus) and Romain (Metanire) to really help us take that next step as a group.”