Protesters in New Orleans Chant ‘F— Drew Brees’ After Kneeling Comments

Protesters in New Orleans took aim at Drew Brees for the comments he made this week about kneeling during the national anthem. On Wednesday night, demonstrators were marching to protest the murder of George Floyd who was killed while in police custody on May 25. During the march, there was a brief chant of “F— Drew Brees,” which can be seen by clicking here or by watching the video below. The chant comes after Brees talked to Yahoo Finance about the protests going on in the country and how the NFL will respond in 2020.

“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees said on Wednesday. “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 Corp. 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.”

Brees’ comments sparked a lot of heated reactions as many believed he missed the point of the protests. Many of his New Orleans Saints teammates were angry at him, especially Malcolm Jenkins, who sent Brees a message on Instagram. “We’re done asking Drew,” Jenkins said when talking about the back community asking for help. “And people who are your sentiments, who express those and push then throughout the world and the airways are the problem. And it’s unfortunate because I considered you a friend, I looked up to you, you’re someone I had a great deal of respect for. But sometimes, you should shut the f— up.”

On Thursday morning, Brees went to Instagram and wrote an apology for his comments. He wrote the comments he made were “insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country.” He added: “I stand with the black community in the fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality and support the creation of real policy change that will make a difference. I condemn the years of oppression that have taken place throughout our black communities and still exists today.”