Drew Brees was at the forefront of the NFL's issues with racial and social justice earlier this year when he came out and said he'd "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America" before changing his tune and recognizing that his teammates and NFL players weren't kneeling to disrespect the flag. He has since devoted his time to learning about the African-American community, making sure he stands by his teammates' sides as an ally and continuing to educate himself and others.
In a sense, Brees finally listened. And had he listened to the true meaning behind many NFL players' protests during the national anthem earlier on, including those of quarterback Colin Kaepernick, he may never have viewed their actions as disrespectful.
And this, listening, is exactly what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell cited as his biggest takeaway from the surge of social injustice protests that faced the NFL and the world after the wrongful killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and several other African-Americans. Goodell spoke about this on "Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man," featuring former NFL player and host Emmanuel Acho.
Acho asked Goodell how he'd like to publicly express his remorse toward Kaepernick and others who chose to kneel during the national anthem.
"Well, the first thing I'd say is I wish we had listened earlier, Kaep, to what you were kneeling about and what you were trying to bring attention to," Goodell said. "We had invited him in several times to have the conversation, to have the dialogue. I wish we had the benefit of that. We never did ... We would have benefited from that. Absolutely."
Goodell went on to explain what he'd tell people who still feel as though kneeling during the anthem is a sign of disrespect toward the American flag.
"It is not about the flag," Goodell said. "The message here is that what our players are doing is being mischaracterized. These are not people who are unpatriotic, they're not disloyal, they're not against our military.
"In fact, many of those guys were in the military, and they're a military family. And what they were trying to do is exercise their right to bring attention to something that needs to get fixed. And that ... misrepresentation of who they were, what they were doing, was the thing that really gnawed at me."
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