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New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees apologized, multiple times, for his comments regarding NFL players kneeling during the national anthem.
The world ripped into Brees in the days that followed. Teammate Michael Thomas was livid and Malcolm Jenkins told him to shut up, Stephen Jackson drew a line in the sand (no pun intended), Saints fans burned his jersey, and even LeBron James spoke his peace.
Several high-profile people came to Brees’ defense including Charles Barkley, the ex-Green Beret who advised Colin Kaepernick on kneeling during the anthem, and even the President.
The entire ordeal has probably caused intense turmoil inside the Brees’ household, so much so, that Brittany Brees issued an apology of her own on the official Instagram account for the Drew Brees Dream Foundation.
The photo featured two quotes from Martin Luther King and a bible quote.
Brittany Brees then wrote an apology in her own words, which began with the statement “WE ARE THE PROBLEM.”
Here’s a transcript of her full apology:
“WE ARE THE PROBLEM.
I write this with tears in my eyes and I hope you all hear our hearts,” she continued. “I have read these quotes and scripture 1000 times and every time I read it and the words sink into my heart. I think yes this is what it’s all about. Only until the last few days ,until we experienced the death threats we experienced the hate did I realize that these words were speaking directly to us. How could anyone who knows us or has had interactions with us think that Drew or I have a racist bone in our body? But that’s the whole point. Somehow we as white America, we can feel good about not being racist, feel good about loving one an another as God loves us. We can feel good about educating our children about the horrors of slavery and history. We can read books to our children about Martin Luther King, Malcolm X., Hank Aaron, Barack Obama, Rosa parks, Harriet Tubman and feel like we are doing our part to raise our children to love, be unbiased and with no prejudice. To teach them about all of the African Americans that have fought for and risked their lives against racial injustice.
“Somehow as white Americans we feel like that checks the box of doing the right thing. Not until this week did Drew and I realize THAT THIS IS THE PROBLEM. To say ‘I don’t agree with disrespecting the flag’ I now understand was also saying I don’t understand what the problem really is, I don’t understand what you’re fighting for, and I’m not willing to hear you because of our preconceived notions of what that flag means to us.
“That’s the problem we are not listening, white America is not hearing. We’re not actively LOOKING for racial prejudice. We have heard stories from men and women we have known and loved for years about the racism that occurred in their lives stories that were never shared or talked about because somehow they were considered normal. To all of our friends and anyone we hurt, we will do better. We want to do better, we want to HEAR you, and we will fight for you because thinking we are not part of the problem is checking the box it means we are are not doing enough. It’s our job to educate ourselves. We are sorry.”
The apology has over 2,200 likes and over 400 comments.
In March, the Brees family donated $5 million to the state of Louisana for COVID-19 relief.
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Chris Illuminati is a 5-time published author and recovering a**hole who writes about running, parenting, and professional wrestling. Reach out to him on Instagram & Twitter.