Players across the NFL have spoken out on the death of George Floyd, who was killed by a Minneapolis police officer after the officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd’s death has sparked protests, riots and civil unrest in U.S. cities everywhere, which have continued for about a week.
Drew Brees was asked by Yahoo’s Daniel Roberts on Wednesday how he would feel about players kneeling in protest during the playing of the national anthem once the season starts. Brees’ feelings about kneeling during the anthem haven’t changed despite the current status of our country, saying he’ll never agree with that type of protest.
“Well I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” he said.
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
Brees made his stance clear three years ago when he said everyone should be standing for the national anthem, which was in response to Colin Kaepernick’s protest. He disagreed with the way in which Kaepernick went about protesting, and his view of kneeling hasn’t changed.
The Saints quarterback went on to explain his reasoning, saying that he thinks of his two grandfathers who served in the military during World War II.
“Let me just tell you what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States. I envision my two grandfathers who fought for this country during World War II — one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps. Both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and this world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart, looking at that flag and singing the national anthem, that’s what I think about. And in many cases, it brings me to tears thinking about all that has been sacrificed. Not just those in the military, but for that matter, those throughout the civil rights movements of the ’60s and all that has been endured by so many people up until this point. And is everything right with our country right now? No, it’s not. We still have a long way to go, 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 we are all part of the solution.”
Brees did participate in “Blackout Tuesday” this week, which was a sign of support for those fighting racial inequality and oppression.