New Orleans Saints legend Drew Brees' final season in the NFL didn't go as smoothly as he would have wanted it to be, thanks in part to a controversial comment he made that reverberated throughout the league and even outside the realm of football. It could be remembered that Brees, during an interview with Yahoo Finance, associated kneeling — a form of protest initiated by Colin Kaepernick — during the playing of the national anthem with “disrespect” to the flag and what it represents.
Brees got tremendous backlash after his comment spread like wildfire across traditional and social media. Even Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James pushed back with a comment of his own. One could only imagine how awkward it probably was in the Saints' locker room afterward, but according to defensive end Cameron Jordan, the communication that happened following Brees' comments only helped strengthen their bond with each other.
Via Tyler B. Tynes of GQ:
Man, whatever he was talking about had nothing to do with us winning. It was the opposite of how our locker room addressed it. The moment we heard it, it was instant text messages. Instant calls to Drew. Being your brother’s keeper: this is what I’ve gone through, what I’ve seen, what I’ve been through, how are you not able to relate? It’s that uncomfortable conversation that really led to our locker room being that much closer.
Instead of using Brees' comments as a reason to be distant from each other, the Saints took advantage of the moment to learn lessons from it that would benefit each one on and off the field.
The Saints did appear to eventually move on from that Drew Brees comment, though they were not able to complete their mission to win the Super Bowl in the quarterback's farewell season. They managed to reach the Divisional Round, where they get knocked out by Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
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