Tyrann Mathieu, other Chiefs players blast Saints’ Drew Brees over flag comment
As protests continue more than a week after the death of George Floyd while he was being detained by Minneapolis police, the name of former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has come up repeatedly.
Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins wrote a piece with the headline, “This is why Colin Kaepernick took a knee.” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll recently said on a Ringer podcast “we owe a tremendous amount” to Kaepernick, who took a knee during the playing of the national anthem in 2016 in protest of police brutality against African Americans.
And defensive tackle Aikeem Nicks noted the Bears signed quarterback Mike Glennon for a disastrous stint in Chicago when the team could have signed Kaepernick, who hasn’t been able to sign with a team the last three seasons.
Many NFL players have spoken out about Floyd’s death and it has led some to wonder if there might be more kneeling during the anthem in the upcoming season.
New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees was asked his thoughts on that in an interview with Yahoo Finance’s Daniel Roberts.
“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees said. “Let me just tell what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States. I envision my two grandfathers, who fought for this country during World War II — one in the Army and one in the Marine Corps. Both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and this world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart looking at that flag and singing the national anthem, that’s what I think about.
“And in many cases it brings me to tears, thinking about all that has been sacrificed, not just those in the military, but for that matter but those through the civil rights movements of the 1960s and all that has been endured by so many people up until this point. And is everything right with our country right now? 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.”
Here is the clip:
That comment drew a sharp rebuke from many people in the NFL and other sports. Among those who called out Brees by name was Chiefs defensive back Tyrann Mathieu.
This is what he tweeted:
Chiefs cornerback Charvarius Ward didn’t use words, but this message was clear:
A short while later, Ward shared this message:
Chiefs running back Darwin Thompson tweeted this
This also seemed to be about Brees:
Mathieu also retweeted these messages from Saints receiver Michael Thomas and 49ers defensive back Richard Sherman:
Other NFL players were also upset with Brees. This is Titans receiver A.J. Brown:
Jets safety Jamal Adams tweeted this:
Saints receiver Emmanuel Samuels shared this:
Here is Las Vegas Raiders running back Josh Jacobs:
Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport came to Brees’ defense:
This story was originally published June 3, 2020 at 5:29 PM.
