New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is apologizing for his “insensitive” comments regarding NFL players kneeling to protest police brutality.
His apology came in an Instagram post on Thursday after an earlier interview with Yahoo Sports sparked controversy.
He had said in that interview that he would never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag.
“And is everything right with our country right now?” he had said. “No, it is 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 that we are all part of the solution.”
But on Thursday he expressed remorse for his remarks.
“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.”
He said his words had 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,” he said. “This could not be further from the truth.”
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
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