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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees received backlash for comments he made regarding kneeling during the national anthem.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Brees said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America.”
Many notable names in sports spoke out against Brees’ comments. This included LeBron James and Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins. Jenkins, Brees’ teammate, said he was disappointed and wouldn’t let the comments slide.
James posted his thoughts on twitter when he retweeted the video of Brees and his comments. The following quote is combined from two tweets that contain the full statement.
“WOW MAN!! Is it still surprising at this point? Sure isn’t! You literally still don’t understand why Kap was kneeling on one knee?? Has absolutely nothing to do with the disrespect of [America] and our soldiers(men and women) who keep our land free. My father-in-law was one of thosemen who fought as well for this country. I asked him question about it and thank him all the time for his commitement. He never found Kap peaceful protest offensive because he and I both know what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong! God bless you.”
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1268268214581989377
The hashtag “#DrewBreesisCancelled” began to trend on twitter.
Brees’ Apology
The next day, Brees attempted to apologize for his comments. He posted his full apology on his Instagram page.
Saints Linebacker Damario Davis gave Brees credit for coming out an apologizing.
“What we had hoped the first time was that Drew would elaborate more on racism and the sentiments of the black community,” Davis said during an interview Thursday morning on CNN. “And he admitted he missed the mark. So for him to come out and say, ‘I missed the mark, I’ve been insensitive, but what I’m gonna start doing is listening and learning from the black community and finding ways that I can help them,’ I think that’s a model for all of America.”
For others, it was not good enough.
New York Giants safety Jabrill Peppers tweeted in response to Brees, “Nah, we heard you the first time.”
Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris said Brees took the wrong routes.
“Take this for what it is, if you’re trying to issue an apology, a press release is not the route. Take your *explicit* on camera and apologize. Then go take some actions forward to show us/yourself that you actually are sorry. Morning@drewbrees.”
Audio in the story courtesy of ABC Newscall
