New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees has apologized after saying he doesn’t support players kneeling during the National Anthem.
“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees told Yahoo! Finance. “Is everything right with our country right now? No, it is not. We still have a long way to go.
Highlight: @readdanwrite asks @drewbrees what the star NFL quarterback thinks about "players kneeling again when the NFL season starts."@drewbrees: “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”
Full exchange: pic.twitter.com/MpCkFyOMed
— Yahoo Finance (@YahooFinance) June 3, 2020
“But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better and that we are all part of the solution.”
Teammates and other athletes criticized his comments, with one writing “We don’t care if you don’t agree and whoever else how about that.”
We don’t care if you don’t agree and whoever else how about that.
— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) June 3, 2020
Brees has walked back the statements since, posting a lengthy apology on his Instagram account.
“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,” he wrote.
“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,” he concluded.