Drew Brees made some questionable comments Wednesday. And now some prominent athletes are speaking out.
In case you missed it, the New Orleans Saints quarterback said he still doesn’t agree with kneeling during the national anthem, which gained national attention in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick silently protested police brutality.
And in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of four Minneapolis Police Department (now former) officers, the timing of the comments was, well, not great.
Brees drew backlash from Jason and Devin McCourty, as well as Michael Thomas — his own teammate. He also drew the ire of some other athletes across the world of sports, including LeBron James.
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 absolute nothing to do with the disrespect of ?? and our soldiers(men and women) who keep our land free. My father-in-law was one of those https://t.co/pvUWPmh4s8
— LeBron James (@KingJames) June 3, 2020
He’s beyond lost. Guarantee you there were black men fighting along side your grandfather but this doesn’t seem to be about that. That uncomfortable conversation you are trying to avoid by injecting military into a conversation about brutality and equality is part of the problem https://t.co/ON81UsOWPw pic.twitter.com/HH3EVTIH8p
— Richard Sherman (@RSherman_25) June 3, 2020
Smh.. Ignorant
— Emmanuel Sanders (@ESanders_10) June 3, 2020
Never was about disrespecting the armed forces. It’s about police brutality and racial injustices in our country. This country can’t be unified if African Americans are unjustly killed in the street because of the color of their skin https://t.co/BzRZgkOYnU
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) June 3, 2020
??♂️…. This ain’t it https://t.co/XOew9MW6gu
— Josh Jacobs (@iAM_JoshJacobs) June 3, 2020
Wow!! This was today?! This is the problem we are dealing with.. People can’t separate the 2.. This is bigger then the Flag @drewbrees. We all are not treated the same https://t.co/Cvs8etfUqi
— Jared Dudley (@JaredDudley619) June 3, 2020
If you don’t speak up about racism, then you’re apart of the problem. This man said the flag … trash
— AJ Brown (@Brown1arthur) June 3, 2020
damn Drew… ??♂️??♂️??♂️
— Jay Ajayi (@JayTrain) June 3, 2020
If you're still talking about players "disrespecting the flag" by kneeling during the national anthem clearly you're not ready for these conversations. Call a time out and come back later.
— Julius Peppers (@juliuspeppers_) June 3, 2020
@drewbrees SMH. You represent New Orleans Louisiana. Don’t ever forget that! #Bottomofthemap
— Tyrann Mathieu (@Mathieu_Era) June 3, 2020
Brees also was among the athletes to participate in the #BlackOutTuesday demonstration across social media.
