Post by Admin on Jun 6, 2020 8:50:24 GMT -4
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is in the middle of a highly-publicized spat with President Donald Trump and nothing seems to be going well for the NFL star. Brees took to social media Friday evening taking aim at Trump for criticizing him over apologizing for comments the quarterback made about other NFL players, like Colin Kaepernick, kneeling during the National Anthem.
In an interview with Yahoo, Brees said he would "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country."
Brees has since apologized twice for his comments about protesting the National Anthem and Trump felt he should have stuck to his guns.
Drew Brees addressed his message directly to the president on social media, captioning an image that read: "To President Trump."
"Through my ongoing conversations with friends, teammates, and leaders in the black community, I realize this is not an issue about the American flag. It has never been. We can no longer use the flag to turn people away or distract them from the real issues that face our black communities," Brees wrote.
He added, apologizing again, "We did this back in 2017, and regretfully I brought it back with my comments this week. "
Brees told President Trump that the conversation needs to move beyond the American flag and get into the real issues behind systemic racism in the country.
"We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform. We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history! If not now, then when?"
The quarterback finished his message making it clear that the White community needed to take action and stand alongside the Black community on the issues of racism.
"We as a white community need to listen and learn from the pain and suffering of our black communities. We must acknowledge the problems, identify the solutions, and then put this into action. The black community cannot do it alone. This will require all of us."
Brees' comments did not sit well with die-hard supporters of President Trump who felt the NFL star was giving into public pressure after his initial comments regarding protesting the National Anthem.
"Cowering to the masses never helps anyone. This is so absurd it’s getting stupid... make sure you apologize for being born the color you are, getting paid to play football, and for being a man of faith while you’re at it," one person bluntly commented on Brees' IG page.
Another person believed the NFL star's comments were "a hostage video at this point."
Earlier in the day, President Trump made it known how unhappy he was regarding Drew Brees walking back his comments.
"I am a big fan of Drew Brees. I think he’s truly one of the greatest quarterbacks, but he should not have taken back his original stance on honoring our magnificent American Flag,” Trump wrote on Twitter.
He continued:
“OLD GLORY is to be revered, cherished, and flown high … We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag - NO KNEELING!”
