New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees expressed his opinion to Yahoo! on Wednesday, and ever since, he has received criticism from the African-American community. In the interview, he stated, “I will never agree with anyone disrespecting the flag of the United States of America, of our country.” Brees then went on to discuss his two grandfathers who fought for the United States in WWII.
During a time when the United States is in a time of turmoil, Brees’s comments have generated harsh criticism from many high profile American athletes including LeBron James, Michael Thomas, Richard Sherman, and Aaron Rodgers. James’s comments included “You literally still don’t understand why Kap was kneeling.”
James was referring to former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who first started kneeling during the anthem in 2016. At the time, Kaepernick received harsh criticism from the media. Ultimately, the criticism was so intense, he was never able to find another job as a quarterback in the National Football League. Even when the 2017 season started, Donald Trump recommended NFL owners fire players who kneel during the anthem.
According to Nancy Armour of USA Today, Kaepernick’s protests were never about the flag, anthem, or military. It was about raising awareness of the people of colour who were dying by police officers, who subsequently would be unpunished for their actions.
Brees has since apologized for his comments. However, the fact that he received so much negative backlash by people, it will be interesting to see if he is able to recover from an image perspective. The criticism was so harsh, New Orleans protesters yelled out “F*** Drew Brees.”
It will also be interesting to see what happens during the NFL national anthems when regular season games start in September. Will Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still insist players must stand for the anthem? Tony Kornheiser of ESPN even questioned the importance of having anthems played before games at all. If having anthems before games continue to generate controversy, there is a possibility that not only the NFL, but all professional sports leagues, may scrap them altogether.
