Politics

‘Very Disappointing’: Don Lemon Disappointed In Drew Brees After Comments The QB Made On Protests At Games

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
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Don Lemon and former NFL player Donte Stallworth lectured New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees during a segment of “CNN Tonight.”

Lemon and Stallworth were responding to comments Brees made earlier Wednesday about the possibility of protests against police brutality carrying into the NFL season and players taking a knee at games during the national anthem. (RELATED: Drew Brees Drops The Mic On People Who Think It’s Acceptable To Not Stand During The National Anthem)

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Brees told Yahoo Finance that he would never agree with disrespecting the flag, adding that he understood there were issues that the United States still needed to deal with but that was not the way.

“We still have a long way to go. But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity. It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better, and that we are all part of the solution,” Brees said.

“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” he added.

Stallworth disagreed, arguing that Brees must have only been listening to right-wing propaganda.

“He’s totally wrong on this. If he actually listens to what the players have been saying from the very beginning, the players in his locker room, the players he sees every day, the guys he hangs out with, the guys he considers family and brothers, if he listens to them he’ll get to understand the real true reasons why, not listen to the propaganda that has been propped up by the conservatives, the right wing media about this being anything about the anthem, about this being anything about the flag or even more despicable, about it being about the troops,” Stallworth explained.

Lemon joined in, adding, “What Drew Brees should know — huge fan of his playing. Have been for years. This has been very disappointing. Is that the same — that’s what his grandparents and relatives were fighting for. Freedom of expression is part of the Constitution, and those people, the people who fought in those wars, it was for the Constitution. And I just — I don’t understand Drew Brees who has been — who has done so many good things in the past especially with the money he donated during Covid-19 and so on and so forth. I don’t understand what he’s not getting about this particular issue and perhaps he can be educated on it.”

Stallworth went on to say that he believed kneeling and other protests would be an issue going into the season, especially in the context of protests and riots that have sprung up nationwide following the death of George Floyd.

Lemon concluded the segment with a direct plea to Brees, saying, “Drew Brees, you don’t want to be on the wrong side of history, man. Come talk to me.”