Amidst the ongoing Black Lives Matter movement in American Society, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees released a statement that was not received well by the public. Since then, he has issued his apologies both to the public and to his teammates who were affected by his words, mainly including Malcolm Jenkins and Emmanuel Sanders.
Brees reiterated his regret in a conference call with members of the media:
Article Continues Below“Going back to my comment on June 3, to think for a second that New Orleans or the state of Louisiana or the black community would think that I was not standing with them for social justice, that completely broke my heart,” Drew Brees said, via The Times-Picayune's Rod Walker. “It was crushing. Never ever would I feel that way. I recognize that I missed an opportunity that day. I had an opportunity to talk about and emphasize the social injustices that exist for our Black community and our need as a country to support them and to advocate for systemic change. And my lack of awareness in that moment hurt a lot of people.”
With all the problems swirling around the society during the offseason, Brees also admitted that he was already considering hanging up his cleats for good. Fortunately for him, the Saints are still very much a Super Bowl contender. The team will still likewise be needing his veteran leadership and experience to lead the franchise to its second Lombardi Trophy.
However, the team's circumstances in 2020 are already looking to be much different from last season. Reliable quarterback Teddy Bridgewater decided to take his talents to Carolina while the team added new weapons in former Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston and Super Bowl 50 champion Emmanuel Sanders.
The team will be welcoming the reloaded Tamba Bay Buccaneers to their home turf for the first game of the 2020 season slated on September 13.