Drew Brees Apologizes For “Missing The Mark” 

One of the NFL’s most beloved players, a man of faith and a friend to the community, was dragged by the entire sports world for insensitive comments he made, which downplayed the protests and the pain of people mourning George Floyd and the many other Black men in order to reopen an old argument about Kaepernick disrespecting the flag by peacefully kneeling. 

It wasn’t the time or the place for Brees to double down on an issue that only exists in the mind of certain Americans.

That’s when the shots started flying. One came from his star wide receiver Michael Thomas.

LeBron James was offended as well.

His teammate Malcolm Jenkins, a public activist who was prominent in the $89 million deal brokered between the NFL owners and the Players Coalition to address pertinent issues in the African-American community wasn’t kind to Brees.

At least Drew apologized, but not until the gravity of the moment and his mishap smacked him in the face like a Jadeveon Clowney sack.

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I would like to apologize to my friends, teammates, the City of New Orleans, the black community, NFL community and anyone I hurt with my comments yesterday. In speaking with some of you, it breaks my heart to know the pain I have caused. In an attempt to talk about respect, unity, and solidarity centered around the American flag and the national anthem, I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country. They lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy. Instead, those words have become divisive and hurtful and have misled people into believing that somehow I am an enemy. This could not be further from the truth, and is not an accurate reflection of my heart or my character. This is where I stand: I stand with the black community in the fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality and support the creation of real policy change that will make a difference. I condemn the years of oppression that have taken place throughout our black communities and still exists today. I acknowledge that we as Americans, including myself, have not done enough to fight for that equality or to truly understand the struggles and plight of the black community. I recognize that I am part of the solution and can be a leader for the black community in this movement. I will never know what it’s like to be a black man or raise black children in America but I will work every day to put myself in those shoes and fight for what is right. I have ALWAYS been an ally, never an enemy. I am sick about the way my comments were perceived yesterday, but I take full responsibility and accountability. I recognize that I should do less talking and more listening…and when the black community is talking about their pain, we all need to listen. For that, I am very sorry and I ask your forgiveness.

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For now, that will have to do until he can start rebuilding or building a relationship with a Black community, full of military men and women and state and government workers and police. It won’t be as easy as he thinks because as you might have noticed, the national climate is intensified and people of all colors are fed up with the bs (Fill in whatever BS means to you)

That’s why there are massive peaceful protests all over the country and internationally. That’s also why Brees’ apology isn’t worth much to some folks. Even if we do give him another pass —  for the last damn time.

 

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