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After New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees comments about the national anthem, Hall of Famer Shannon Sharpe was very critical of him. Brees and Sharpe had talked before, but it was only in passing and never anything deep and powerful.
After Brees' comments, Sharpe was very critical of Brees on “Undisputed”, calling his apology meaningless because he had spoken from his heart with the first comments. Brees reached out to Sharpe on Sunday, and on Monday's show, Sharpe retold how the conversation went.
Brees started the conversation saying he was sorry to Sharpe and the entire black community for his comments. Sharpe responded telling Brees for one second they just wanted him to be a part of their community and step into their shoes for a bit:
“I said, ‘Drew, what you have to understand is that for one second, we didn’t want you to be Drew Brees. We wanted you to be one of us. We wanted you to feel that was your brother or that was your uncle, that was your father. You’re still a married father and a doting dad, but for one second, you were black. How would you feel? And, Drew, when you said fault for the military, you do understand that not only were they not only fighting in a foreign land for freedom over there, they were also fighting for freedoms back home! The freedom and the pride that you feel when you stand for that flag, everybody does not feel that same sense of pride because they haven’t been afforded some of the same opportunities that you and your ancestors have been afforded. He says, ‘I understand that.’ He says, ‘Talking to a lot of my teammates and seeing the hurt that they felt.’
Sharpe went on to talk about how bad it hurt because it came from Drew Brees, who has gotten a lot of black support because of his response during Hurricane Katrina and the coronavirus pandemic:
“I said, ‘Drew, let me break it down to you in a nutshell. What hurt the most is because it came from you.’ I said, ‘Drew, no white quarterback in the history of the NFL has had black support like you got it. … But given you, in New Orleans, what you’ve done in the community with Katrina, donating $5 million out of your pocket during this pandemic to feed the hungry,’ I said, ‘Drew, why do you think that your teammates lashed out at you like that? Because they couldn’t believe that came from you.’
Sharpe went on to say that he could feel the pain that Brees was feeling because of how many people he hurt. Sharpe knows he was harsh with his criticism at first, but he feels like Brees deserves another chance to do right.
All eyes are going to be on Brees going forward with how he continues to handle this situation, but it's clear some are starting to change their tune back positive towards the future Hall of Famer.
