NFL star Drew Brees apologized for comments denouncing players who kneel during the national anthem before games.
Brees issued a statement on Thursday, a day after he told Yahoo Finance Wednesday that he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country.”
“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 in an Instagram post.
“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 continued.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, a vocal supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement, started the trend of kneeling for the national anthem before games in protest of police brutality and systemic racism. Speculation that the demonstration might make a comeback among players when the NFL season starts has stirred following the death of George Floyd.
Floyd, an unarmed black man, died while in police custody last week. Video of the incident showed now-fired Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who is white, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for more than eight minutes.
Charges against Chauvin were increased Wednesday from third-degree murder to second-degree murder. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison also charged the now-former Minneapolis police officers involved with the arrest, Thomas Lane, J. Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, with aiding and abetting murder.
Protests sparked by Floyd’s death have spread across the country over the past week, with some demonstrations experiencing rioting, looting, arson, and vandalism.
