(Reuters) — New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said on Wednesday (September 27) that U.S. President Donald Trump left black athletes very little choice but to protest at NFL games last weekend.
Trump ramped up his fight with the National Football League on Tuesday, calling on the league to ban players from kneeling in protest at games while the U.S. national anthem is played.
This came after a weekend of games where hundreds of NFL players and owners knelt during the U.S. national anthem.
Trump first berated the players last Friday, telling a political rally in Alabama that any protesting player was a “son of a bitch” who should be fired, and urged a boycott of NFL games, touching off protests by dozens of players, coaches and some owners before games on Sunday.
Brees, who himself didn’t kneel during the last game against the Carolina Panthers, said he understood the reasons behind the protests and said that Trump has “put all athletes, all black athletes, all minority athletes, he put them in a corner and he forced them to take action” with his comments.
“I still feel like that if you are an American you should stand and show respect to the flag and what it symbolizes. Certainly, I respect the cause (of protests). I think what you saw last weekend especially was a direct result of the comments the president made, President Trump,” he said.
He added that Trump “put all athletes, all black athletes, all minority athletes, he put them in a corner and he forced them to take action.”
“That was unfortunate that he made the comments that he made. I don’t blame the guys for feeling like they needed to do something as a reaction to that,” he said.
Brees also said he and his team-mates were looking for an appropriate show of unity this coming weekend when they take on the Miami Dolphins in London.
“… Again, I think we are all very much on the same page as far as the cause is justified but it is just the means by which, whatever you want to call it, the protests, the awareness is raised. How can we do that in a respectful manner?” he said.
