Antonio Brown’s redemption story is nearing its conclusion, as the former Steelers’ All-Pro WR asked Tom Brady for forgiveness on Tuesday.
Love is in the air for Antonio Brown, as not only did the former Pittsburgh Steelers All-Pro receiver begin to mend his relationship with the city of Pittsburgh, but Brown also reached out to his former quarterback on the Patriots and Buccaneers, Tom Brady, for forgiveness.
Brown burned a lot of bridges towards the end of his career but appears to be trying to make things right in his retirement from football.
Brady, arguably the greatest quarterback of all time, pulled a lot of strings to bring AB onto the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, just in time for them to win Super Bowl LV together. TB12 had even let Brown live with him during their time in Tampa Bay, and while the receiver had a polarizing exit to say the least, it appears Brown and Brady wish to put that behind them.
Only time will tell, but fans would enjoy seeing the former receiver reunite with another former QB of his, Ben Roethlisberger, whether at a game or even on the QB’s podcast in the near future.
Saints Twitter can’t believe Dennis Allen would apologize to the Falcons and chastise his players on a public stage:
Leave it to Dennis Allen to find a way to upset the entire New Orleans Saints fanbase after beating their archrivals by four touchdowns. The Saints head coach publicly apologized to the Atlanta Falcons and head coach Arthur Smith for his players going rogue to run up the score in the final minutes of regulation — but while that may have been an honest gesture, it also threw his players under the bus.
And Saints fans on social media didn’t react to that gesture kindly:
“We’re scoring every time we’ve got the football,” Kelly said with Notre Dame leading 35-0 at halftime. “We’re not letting them score any points. We want a shutout. We’re playing for a shutout. This thing is too damn hard. I’m tired of being the nice guy.”
For anyone that has ever spent any amount of time in an athletic locker room or any time around athletes it was harmless and easy to understand what Kelly was trying to say.
It had nothing to do with South Florida but everything to do with his team finishing the task at hand, not becoming complacent despite Notre Dame being on the right side of a blowout and headed towards 2-0.
It’s like when coaches talk about players having killer instincts. They aren’t asking their players to out on the field and literally kill someone, they’re talking about getting their teams to play at a high level and when you have a chance to mentally break your opponent, you go ahead and do so and essentially end the competition.
Again, the speech was entirely harmless and showed a coach trying to keep his team motivated in the middle of a game that certainly was not.
It was not done out of disrespect for South Florida or anyone else, it was said to his team about their performance.
So why then did Brian Kelly feel the need to apologize for what was said in that video on Monday?
“I didn’t know that was going to go public,” Kelly said Monday during his press availability. “If I knew it was public, I probably would have articulated it a little bit differently.”
So I’m guessing somewhere along the lines Kelly caught some backlash over what was said during the video.
Someone who has probably never been outside their comfort zone saw the speech and was mad that a football coach dare to tell his team not to be Mr. Nice Guy out on the playing field.
Of things I’ve heard in locker rooms from the high school ranks all the way through the pros this grades out about as PG as you’re going to find. Sure, it isn’t quite the G rating suitable for all but was still entirely harmless.
Yet Brian Kelly felt the need to apologize for it Monday because I’m guessing someone, somewhere got their feelings hurt over something incredibly minimal.
I was expecting to hear many things from Brian Kelly when he met the media on Monday but an apology for a harmless speech was certainly not one of them.
Kemah Siverand has finally spoken out after he was released by the Seattle Seahawks nearly two weeks ago for reportedly attempting to sneak a woman into the team hotel, dressed in team apparel.
The undrafted rookie cornerback tweeted an apology on Monday, which reads in part:
“After taking time to reflect and really consider the seriousness of my actions, I have tried to find the appropriate words to apologize to all of those affected by my poor decision and immaturity. I’ve privately apologized to Coach [Pete] Carroll, [general manager] John Schneider, and the Seahawks organization. I violated team rules, which would have been unacceptable in normal times, but absolutely inexcusable now during a pandemic. I understand my lapse in judgment put my teammates and the organization at risk, thankfully no one else was affected by my actions.”
Siverand said he plans to continue training and hopes to someday realize his dream of playing in the NFL.
New Orleans Saints punter Thomas Morstead has the pulse on his locker room, and thinks Drew Brees has helped them stay on the right path.
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There aren’t many players on the New Orleans Saints roster with more respect on their name than Thomas Morstead. The experienced punter is entering his twelfth NFL season, having spent every year of his lengthy career in New Orleans. He’s one of a few who won a Super Bowl ring back in 2009 to still compete in the NFL, along with teammates Drew Brees and Malcolm Jenkins.
So Morstead has a good sense of the Saints locker room, to say the least. He addressed some recent turmoil during an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. Teed up by Eisen to reflect on Brees’ conversation with his teammates after a very public disagreement over the quarterback’s stance on peaceful protests during the national anthem, Morstead now thinks the Saints are a tighter-knit group than ever before.
“Well look, I think it’s pretty evident over the past number of years to have had the type of seasons we’ve had, to lose in the playoffs the ways that we have and always bounce back, we have a tremendous amount of leadership in the locker room. And leadership sometimes deals with conflict among teammates,” Morstead said, pointing out that the team has leadership in spades. It’s not for nothing that he wears the same captain patch on his jersey as Brees, as do other teammates like Cameron Jordan and Demario Davis.
He continued, “I think this is going to be a blessing in disguise, not only for Drew, not only for our team, but for our nation. Drew is a man of conviction and he just had a change of perspective. We got together and a lot of guys let him know exactly how they felt, and maybe that hadn’t been said as clearly before to him.”
Brees later issued a public apology and commitment to working with his teammates to address the problems close to them, highlighting a need to work against social injustice. It earned him the praise and respect that he’d jeopardized from his teammates, while drawing criticism from public figures like President Donald Trump.
But Morstead was convinced that Brees’ heart is in the right place, saying, “And I know that Drew’s not going to apologize unless he means it, not because of the pressure or his brand. He’s gonna do the right thing. I just know that he’s gonna handle this the right way. And I’m really excited to see what type of moves our team makes collectively, not just in New Orleans but across the country. Somebody like Drew who moves the needle, if he gets passionate about something, and he’s already told us that his actions will speak louder than his moves.”
Morstead described the conversation on that team-wide conference call as, “vulnerable, difficult, emotional, and necessary,” noting that the air has been cleared and everyone knows where they stand on these issues.
He also reiterated that Brees is committed to working with his teammates in their efforts at addressing racial inequality and policing reform; Brees has taken one big first step by signing a letter to Congress alongside the Players Coalition (headed by Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins, linebacker Demario Davis, and retired tight end Benjamin Watson), calling on lawmakers to end the doctrine of qualified immunity. If Morstead’s comments are any indication, this is just the beginning.
Drew Brees apologized for his insensitive comments to his New Orleans Saints teammates during a group meeting with Shaquille O’Neal on hand.
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The New Orleans Saints didn’t plan to hold a team meeting on Drew Brees’ divisive comments this week, but it worked out so that they were able to hash things out internally anyway.
Having scheduled a group conference call two weeks ago with NBA legend and LSU Tigers great Shaquille O’Neal in attendance as a guest speaker, Brees was able to apologize eye-to-eye for his condemning of hypothetical peaceful protests during the national anthem before NFL games later this year.
“I was on the call today when Drew apologized to his teammates, and most of his teammates accepted his apology,” O’Neal said. They said, ‘Drew, we knew your character. We knew you stepped into some stuff that you can’t get out of. But guess what? We want you to do more, more positive things and less talking.’ And they all said, ‘We accept your apology.’”
O’Neal specified that one of the first players to speak up was veteran safety Malcolm Jenkins — someone who has known Brees as a friend and teammate for nearly a decade, and who shared several videos on Instagram reflecting on Brees’ perspective and misinterpretation of the gestures as criticisms of America’s military rather than actions protesting police brutality.
New Orleans Saints RB Alvin Kamara and WR Michael Thomas reacted to Drew Brees’ apology for speaking out against police brutality protests.
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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees caught heat for his comments on peaceful protests against police brutality from a Wednesday interview, following up with a public apology early Thursday morning.
It’s a start, but stronger actions should be expected from Brees to back up his words. While ESPN’s Diana Russini reports that the Saints plan to keep further dialogue in-house — having used the opportunity of a pre-scheduled Thursday team meeting to talk things out among themselves — Brees’ apology was accepted by teammates like Demario Davis and Cameron Jordan.
Others later chimed in, including two of Brees’ most-prominent weapons on offense: Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara. Thomas kept his thoughts on the topic brief, but he’s pleased with where he and his quarterback stand now:
One of my brothers made a public statement yesterday that I disagreed with. He apologized & I accept it because that’s what we are taught to do as Christians. Now back to the movement! #GeorgeFloyd
Kamara took a little more time to meditate on the situation. He was one of several Saints players to reach out to Brees privately, and he seemed satisfied with how they both left that conversation:
I’ve had a day to digest the comments that Drew made. I was disappointed and hurt. We talked and i explained to him where he dropped the ball and he understood. But now it’s time for us to be part of the solution, not the problem. We have to educate to progress.
Still, Kamara later used the spotlight put on him to reflect at length on his experience as a young black man in America. We’ve embedded an excerpt below, but his full thoughts are very much worth your time:
My license has been valid for as long as i can remember, but for some reason i still peep the rear view a couple times when a cop get behind me… why? Because that’s what i was taught to do.
Hopefully the Saints were able to weld their fractured locker room back together after the face of the franchise alienated many of his teammates. It’s early, but signs are positive so far. With thoughtful coworkers like Kamara, Thomas, Davis, and Jordan around him, Brees’ eyes should be opened a little wider to a different perspective.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees stepped into a minefield during a Wednesday interview with Yahoo Finance, criticizing possible peaceful protests during the national anthem as an affront to the American flag and armed forces. The reaction from his peers, teammates, and fans was fiery enough that Brees issued a follow-up apology on Thursday, which you can read here.
One important leader on the team was quick to thank Brees for the gesture. Linebacker Demario Davis was in the process of sharing an on-air interview with CNN when Brees’ statement went up, and he was grateful to see Brees admit that he was in the wrong. It also earned appreciation from defensive end Cameron Jordan.
Still, there’s a lot of work to be done before Brees can solve the division he created in the Saints locker room and the NFL at large. Much of that can be accomplished during the offseason through conversations with his teammates, but actions will speak louder. Like Brees, Davis has been a leader of the team — so much so that he took over for Brees in delivering pregame speeches while the quarterback was on the mend last year. His influence could do a lot to help everyone find common ground.
Antonio Brown has burned a lot of bridges in the past year or so – starting with the Pittsburgh Steelers – but the free-agent receiver is now apologizing for how everything ended with the organization.
Antonio Brown has burned a lot of bridges in the past year or so – starting with the Pittsburgh Steelers – but the free-agent receiver is now apologizing for how everything ended with the organization.
Antonio Brown has burned a lot of bridges in the past year or so – starting with the Pittsburgh Steelers – but the free-agent receiver is now apologizing for how everything ended with the organization.
Antonio Brown has burned a lot of bridges in the past year or so – starting with the Pittsburgh Steelers – but the free-agent receiver is now apologizing for how everything ended with the organization.
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