It’s tough trying to dissect all this

Well for starters the flag & anthem are just symbolic.

The very people that y’all claim they are disrespecting are the same people that fought for the right to do that. If you can’t see/understand that then idk. Plenty of military people have come out and said the same.

Go look at the video Malcom Jenkins posted in response if you want to know how the black community took his comments. I think he sums it up pretty well. You may not agree with all of Jenkins' logic or line of thinking. Maybe you will. But either way, it is a great insight into how saying that is hurtful to him and plenty of others.


I think most know Brees is a good guy. But it reveals that he really hasn't been paying attention to what's going on recently if he is trying to dictate/disagreeing with the way in which they PEACEFULLY protest their human rights being violated. it's not his fight to criticize

Saying he believes in standing for the anthem is “hurtful” to blacks? When did they become the biggest pussies in the world?

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Saying he believes in standing for the anthem is “hurtful” to blacks? When did they become the biggest pussies in the world?

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I would think getting your human rights violated time and time again would make you a bit emotional when someone says that. If that makes them "pussys" then, well, frick you.

Uhh they’re literally symbols

Hazelnut, I watched, what I believe, was Jenkins’ 2nd video. That was painful to watch as well. Look, I love Malcolm, I even supported his Rock Avenue company and purchased a few of his bow ties before he left for Philly (company I believe is dissolved now). The welcome home that Jenkins’ grandfathers received was different than Brees’. Jenkins has his beliefs on what that flag means to him regarding family history and certainly, Brees let us know and has repeatedly, what it means to him.

What irritated me the most is that, he still posted the video. Handle those things behind closed doors as men; talk it out. Brees’ comments were about his thoughts about kneeling during the anthem, not his thoughts on police brutality. Those 2 are probably most respected on their sides of the ball (Demario Davis perhaps might challenge MJ). They have to act like leaders and have open dialogue and truly understand each other then showcase that unified approach in the public setting.

First of all, I'm a retired Army officer, almost my entire family has served at some point, and most of my friends. I don't think I would ever kneel before the flag, but I feel like I served to protect the rights of those who feel like they need to do that. That's called freedom, and our country and its symbols are strong enough and enduring enough to withstand protest. That's what makes this the greatest country on earth. Any country that has to force people into honoring its symbols is not a country worth having.

At the same time, that does not mean that as a nation, we've always gotten it right.

Drew's comments were disappointing to me for a couple of reasons:

First, when he says he would "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America," he's not only talking about his own actions, he's actually criticizing his teammate's form of protest and he's using the same tired line that it's "disrespecting" the flag and his grandparent's service. The reality is that kneeling before the flag has nothing at all to do with the honorable service of our veterans.

I wonder if Drew would feel the same way if his grandfather fought for a country’s freedom only to be called a **** when he returned home by the very people whose freedom he was fight for…was beaten for having the audacity to try to exercise his right to vote…had dogs sicced on him for using the wrong water fountain or wanting to sit at the front of the bus…who never got the respect they deserved for wearing the same uniform, shedding the same blood, and fighting under the banner of the same flag…just wondering…

I wonder if he would feel the same way if he and his wife prayed every single night after their high school son got a driver's license that he didn't have a run-in with the police that could potentially end his life, despite the fact that he'd never been in a hint of trouble in his whole life.

I remember rushing like a madman to his high school to protect him after he had a minor fender bender and he and the other driver were waiting for the police to arrive.

This crap is exhausting.

The second reason I'm disappointed is that Drew should be smarter than this. Nobody ever asked him to kneel before the flag...in fact nobody demanded that anyone else kneel. So, a simple statement that he stands for the flag to honor my grandfather's service, but he sees how some people may feel differently.

Beautiful post bilblues.

Most people just aren't getting it no matter how many times we try to explain this exact thing in however many ways.

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Well for starters the flag & anthem are just symbolic.

The very people that y’all claim they are disrespecting are the same people that fought for the right to do that. If you can’t see/understand that then idk. Plenty of military people have come out and said the same.

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you also have the right to cheat on your wife/girlfreind too but that doesnt mean you are free from criticism and consequences of doing it

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They still won't understand, most of them at least. They don't want to understand

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It’s frustrating as hell reading thread after thread of these very obviously racist jackasses just not get it at all.

Drew isn’t taking heat because people think he’s a bad guy, or because he’s not allowed his opinion about what the flag means to him. That’s not what happened, but that is how it’s being spun by people who are angry that their white hero got called out.

To watch people not give a shite about how black people are treated, not care to listen to anything black people are trying to say, then absolutely freak the frick out because people were mean to Brees, is something else.

Let’s just understand that it’s not a coincidence or accident that a site that mostly consists of white people from the south has reacted to these black athletes the way they have in this situation.