ESPN’s Maria Taylor Rips Drew Brees After QB’s Apology
Drew Brees has issued apologies after his incendiary comments about national anthem protests, amid the unrest across the country. Whether or not it is sincere or enough is up for debate.
“I would like to apologize to my friends, teammates, the City of New Orleans, the black community, NFL community and anyone I hurt with my comments yesterday,” Brees said in his Instagram apology. “In speaking with some of you, it breaks my heart to know the pain I have caused.” Brees also reportedly addressed his team, after many of his prominent Saints teammates publicly rebuked him.
Some, like Shaquille O’Neal who was on hand for the apology, have accepted it. Others call into question whether he could have possibly meant it, given the exceptionally quick turnaround from the original statement to the apology. Among those is ESPN’s Maria Taylor, who gave a very forceful response on First Take today.
“Obviously I look at when someone brings up the American flag and disrespect to our country as it pertains to Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling as a dog whistle,” Taylor said, while on with Stephen A. Smith and Max Kellerman. “I think that’s you basically saying that you want to ignore the racial injustice, you want to ignore everything that he’s already told you that he’s kneeling for, you want to ignore a peaceful protest and the actual reason why it’s taking place.”
Maria Taylor on Drew Brees apology " Would Drew Brees do this if there was no backlash?"…"You were not doing the right things before and I really wonder why the apology is happening now" pic.twitter.com/sQQe1ZaC8b
— gifdsports (@gifdsports) June 5, 2020
“I wonder to myself, after watching that apology on Instagram, would Drew Brees do this if there was no backlash?” she continued. “And you just Max Kellerman already say that he’s had similar comments before. So my next question is: did your heart actually change? Because racism is a heart problem. And you have to have your heart in the right place.”
A number of Brees’ star teammates, including current ones like Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, as well as retired stars like Marques Colston, spoke out after his first statement. Taylor wonders whether Brees ever took the time to ask about and understand these issues before this week, even when Colin Kaepernick began protesting years ago.
“It’s a very confusing time right now, when a comment like that can be made so instantly, and when the question was asked, he was vehemently opposed to kneeling, and immediately correlated it to disrespecting the country. And I wonder what conversations he had already had with Michael Thomas, have you spoken to the players that helped you become a 13-time Pro Bowler? Have you spoken to the players who have helped you become a Super Bowl Champion? And in those discussions were you listening? Because we’re all throwing around ‘We’re listening’ as the thing that we’re doing right now to create change.
“And so if you listened, then Drew Brees, shame on you for not actually using that knowledge to speak some of the racial inequalities out when that question was asked of you. And if you didn’t ask the question and spend time with Michael Thomas and other teammates discussing racial injustice, when we watched other individuals—Philando Castile, Tamir Rice—go down and be killed and murdered in a country that we should all be respectful of, then shame on you for not having that conversation.”
Some think Drew Brees has said enough already, but his work is not done if he wants to win everyone back over to his side.
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