A respected veteran in the Saints’ locker room is accepting Drew Brees’ apology.
Brees is facing heavy backlash following his controversial remarks about NFL players kneeling during the national anthem. New Orleans’ star quarterback stated he “will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country” which came amid ongoing protests across the country.
The 41-year-old on Thursday addressed his “insensitive” comments, noting he missed the mark on the message he tried to convey. Saints linebacker Demario Davis commended Brees for owning up to his actions and believes others can learn from what took place.
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“Hearing Drew’s apology, and that’s the first I heard it — I think that is a form of true leadership. I would say it because that’s taking ownership,” Davis said on CNN, as seen in a clip shared to Twitter by producer Allie Hedges Maser. “What we had hoped the first time was that Drew would have elaborated more on racism and the sentiments of the black community. 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 going to start doing is listening and learning from the black community and finding ways I can help them,’ I think that’s a model for all of America.
“Historically, in general, most of America has missed the mark and not heard the cries. These aren’t new cries that are coming out on behalf of the black community. The black community has been crying for a long time. Now, it’s turned into a global outcry. That it’s time to stand up for black lives and make sure they’re not being killed in the streets and putting an end to racism and systematic injustice that’s plagued this country for so long. For him to admit that he was wrong and say, ‘You know what? I can do better and I will do better,’ I think that is leadership at its finest.
“That’s not easy, to come out and admit when you’re wrong. For a long time, I feel like a lot of people have taken that posture of not wanting to admit that they’re wrong. And for him to do that, I think that’s very symbolic of America, especially all the ethnic groups that aren’t people of color or black people in understanding that hey, it’s OK. You might have got it wrong, but don’t get it wrong now. That’s where we have to be as a country. We can’t get it wrong this time.
“You know, we all have played a part also in helping try to direct the narrative away from the issues. We’ve all played a part in that. You know, getting caught up in different topics. At the end of the day, police brutality in America is a problem, racism in America is a problem, systematic injustice is a problem. The reason why there are millions of people of all different backgrounds, all different colors, all different ethnic groups in the streets right now protesting and around the world protesting on behalf of black lives is because it’s a global outcry because racism exists, systematic injustice exists, police brutality exists, especially around black people. We need to fix it, and that’s the most important thing.”
Saints wideout Michael Thomas, who vocalized his displeasure with Brees on Wednesday, took to Twitter on Thursday to publicly accept the signal-caller’s apology.
New Orleans reportedly was already scheduled to hold a team meeting Thursday, per The Athletic’s Jeff Duncan. One has to imagine Brees’ comments were a priority to discuss.
