New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said he “will always stand for the flag” following his comments on kneeling during the national anthem earlier this summer.
Brees kicked off his first training camp news conference on Saturday with a prepared statement, saying he supports players who kneel in protest of racial injustice but that he personally will stand. He said that he “will always stand for the flag because of what it means to me, and to honor all those who have sacrificed, who have served and died for our country, and all those who have struggled to move this country forward.”
The player sparked controversy in June when he told Yahoo Finance that he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.” He later apologized for the comments, saying it broke his heart “to know the pain I have caused.”
Brees said Saturday that he feels he “missed an opportunity” in June to raise awareness on racial injustices.
“Going back to my comment on June 3, to think for a second that New Orleans or the state of Louisiana or the black community would think that I was not standing with them for social justice, that completely broke my heart. It was crushing. Never, ever would I feel that way,” he said.
“I recognize that I missed an opportunity that day. I had an opportunity to talk about and emphasize the social injustices that exist for our black community and our need as a country to support them and to advocate for systemic change. And my lack of awareness in that moment hurt a lot of people,” he continued.
He added, “I acknowledge and respect anyone who chooses to kneel or any other form of peaceful protest to bring attention to the social injustices and systemic racism that so many have endured and continue to endure in our country.”
Colin Kaepernick was the first NFL player to kneel during the national anthem in 2016 to protest police brutality and systemic racism in the U.S. He became a free agent in 2017 and recently settled with the football league over claims that it colluded against him to keep him out of a job.
Kaepernick is now working as one of the most high-profile social justice advocates in the country, although NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has welcomed teams having him back on the field.
“Well, listen, if he wants to resume his career in the NFL, then obviously it’s going to take a team to make that decision,” Goodell said earlier this summer. “But I welcome that, support a club making that decision and encourage them to do that.”
