Thomas, Kamara, Sanders Unfollow Drew Brees After Controversial Comments From Saints QB
While the Saints star QB Drew Brees is known for his ability to unite a city and a team, his thoughts on signs of protest during the National Anthem have stirred public controversy.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Brees was asked about his feelings on Colin Kaepernick's past protests against police brutality on the field by kneeling during the National Anthem. "I love and respect my teammates and I stand right there with them in regards to fighting for racial equality and justice. I also stand with my grandfathers who risked their lives for this country and countless other military men and women who do it on a daily basis", said Brees.
Back in 2016 when Colin Kaepernick was displaying his peaceful form of protest, Brees was open about his support for Kaepernick and the message he was sending but on the other hand, was never in support of what he believed to be disrespect to the National Anthem, our flag, and the country itself.
Amidst protests over the murder of George Floyd with the #BlackLivesMatter movement at the forefront, Brees posted a message to his Instagram on Wednesday.
@drewbrees Words to unite.. A mentor of mine once told me that if you listen closely, the sound of children playing is the same no matter where you are in the world. The laughing, shouting, screaming, giggling… No matter what language you speak, no matter what
Brees is known as an extremely powerful figure in New Orleans and the state of Louisiana, so his words do carry a lot of weight in the people of Louisiana's minds and hearts.
His comments today caused the public to wonder if Brees understands the message of all of this in the first place.
Star wide receiver for the Saints and Brees' go-to-guy showed his dismay with his quarterback's thoughts by posting this recent series of tweets @Cantguardmike
To make matters worse, it appears that in addition to Thomas, Alvin Kamara and new Saints receiver Emmanual Sanders have also "sub-tweeted" and unfollowed their quarterback.
Lebron James also responded directly to Brees, expressing his disappointment on Twitter.
Tensions are high throughout the United States and the last thing the people of Louisiana want are leaders such as Brees, Thomas, and Kamara on different pages. The hope is that this is the time for these conversations to happen amongst peers so that everyone is well aware of the importance of the movement that is happening in front of us.
We'll keep you posted on this developing story.
UPDATE: Malcolm Jenkins posted this tearful reply.