Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Demario Davis was on CNN earlier this morning ...

Solid, genuine responses.

Easy to see why he has a C on his jersey. He's a leader on and OFF the field.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

The media, the talking heads, these times, nothing is good enough.:rolleyes:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CBA1P3gH...ource=ig_embed
Sports news and national news are picking him apart again.
Then he is going to get picked apart again during the season. I hope when FOOTBALL commentators ask him about this again, he just says no comment.
It is like a dog with steak,

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Made the mistake of scrolling through the comments on his post.... I've lost even more faith in humanity today. So many ignorant people, so determined to be outraged and offended. I feel bad for Drew that he has to put up with this, and from his own teammates on top of it. Sad that a man who has done so much for New Orleans and the state of Louisiana and football in general is being raked over the coals by a bunch of people not smart or qualified enough to carry his jock strap. I'm 99% sure this will be his last year. Probably was going to be anyway, but after this bull**** I can't see any possible reason he would want to stay. It'll be a rollercoaster season, maybe we still sneak into the playoffs, but the effects of this mess will rear their ugly head once again and we'll get bounced out early. At this point I'm torn between hoping the team can continue to be successful after Drew, and wanting to see the whole thing burn to the ground so that all these fools realize how good they had it with Drew. These dudes deserve to have to sit through some ****ty awful seasons and be brought back down to earth. I don't know... the whole situation sucks and they'll probably try to portray sunshine and rainbows by the time the season rolls around, but this is gonna leave a lasting mark and it sure as hell won't make things better.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

You won't hear me try and justify Black police officers killing unarmed White civilians. Just the other day we applauded several Black police officers being reprimanded in Atlanta for attacking two innocent, Black college students. Like someone stated earlier, many of us view Black police officers just the same as White police officers because they're often partaking or implicit in the injustice of the force as a whole.

The thing is, the Black community is protesting what effects them as most communities do. If White people take issue with White civilians being murdered by police (Black, White, Asian, or Hispanic) then they too have every right to protest. Our community won't complain, and many would likely join in. It's not our responsibility to draw attention to things happening outside of our community while everybody sits back and chastises us for everything wrong with ours without lifting a finger to help.

As far as media coverage, that has nothing to do with us. We don't control that industry. We don't control the major media outlets. We aren't in control of the narrative. We aren't in control of much of anything which is a large reason why we remain in such poor condition as a whole. We control maybe 2% of the wealth and less than 1% of the land. This is a capitalistic society. We don't have enough of the "GREEN" to dictate our own terms.

In regards to Trump, I'm not a supporter or a detractor of his. I'm indifferent. Whether it be him, Obama, Bush, or Clinton; it's all the same to me. Our overall condition has been the same regardless. Left or Right. Blue or Red. White or Mulatto.

I'm not a reformist in ideology. I'm a revolutionary. I cherish the minds of men like Kwame Ture (Stokely Carmichael). So in saying that, I'm not looking for the support of Drew Brees or the White community like many of counterparts. I believe we can achieve greatness on our own without the help of America. However, it does get annoying hearing the birds chirp.

Finally, the military. I don't know anybody who doesn't have family that's military personnel. My dad is NAVY. My grandpa was ARMY. My great-grandpa fought in WWII and had to come home to Jim Crow in New Orleans. I undoubtedly had ancestors who fought in both the Civil War and Revolutionary War. I mean, my ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War and were still slaves for another 100 years afterwards.

We've been involved in every war this country has ever had. Thus, any way we choose to demonstrate is righteous. People must understand that those stars and bars don't mean the same thing to everybody. While you feel the flag is being disrespected, many feel that those representing that flag have disrespected us for 400 years.

When my father passes hopefully long in the distant future they'll fold that flag up and present it to our family. We all have a connection to it. It's just that these connections aren't all the same.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

What do you think some solutions are (end goal)?

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

I have to preface the statement by reiterating that I'm not a reformist in ideology. However, most of my community are proponents of reform. When Malcolm X said "By Any Means Necessary" what that really meant was use whatever works. If non-violent protest works, do it. If voting works, do it. If looting and rioting works, do it. If all out warfare works, do it. So I must meet my people where they are.

Therefore, we need legislation that helps put more control of the land, resources, and the means of production in our hands. There was a Homestead Act in 1862 that gave Americans up to 160 acres of federal land in the West. You had the Boomer-Sooner rush of Oklahoma. We need something like that to shrink this large wealth gap.

Again, this is a capitalistic society. How can we fix our faces to say things are equal when one race controls well over 70% (likely and understatement) of the wealth? So if reform is the route, we need any and all legislation that will spread the balance of power more evenly; even if that only means that the amount of wealth, land, and resources is equivalent to our overall population. That would be a VAST improvement.

STEM is the way of the future. Within our own communities we could emphasize focusing on that. You can take those skills anywhere. It doesn't even have to be here in America. I'm pro-gun. So I'm sure we all have a lot in common there.

We need emphasis on self-empowerment and an establishment of the cultural identity we had to give up because of the power structure. It's a lot we can do on our own, and legislation is only as good as the people enforcing it, but a genuine effort goes a long way.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Also, I appreciate the question.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Things are really crazy over there right now.

I'm clueless about it all living in a totally different culture and society, but it makes me sick how all these media personnel are twisting and dissecting Brees' words.

Shannon Sharpe said Brees should retire. If the NFL community would force his hand to retire for what he said - I think I'd be done with the NFL.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

That's not going to happen. Like I said, the redemption story is written on the wall. All he has to do is win.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Brees is done. They have made sure his ability to lead is now questionable. He will probably lose that contract with NBC or whoever it was too. The networks will bring it up every game because they have to create the narrative. I have to believe that some of these guys just want to make an example out of Brees to further their agenda. They will sacrifice a decent human being to show that their needs to be more decency. This is also what causes the disconnect and prevents people from sitting down at the table. He apologizes and he has his record before all of this of what he's done for the community but it will not be enough. If this can happen to him, what chance do you think the rest of white america has? We must all humble ourselves and kneel, then still get kicked in the teeth. That's the message.....

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Seeing Hugh Jackman being trashed for simply tweeting a picture of a protester and policeman hugging I’m left with the feeling white people are best served to sit quietly and nod our heads in silent agreement. Just let us know when it’s ok to have our our feelings. We’ll be here.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

You have a voice and you think more than you talk, which is why I have more respect for you than most humans. A lot of people talk more than they think and are just bad at conveying what they mean, and yes some are just idiots.

You are trying to solve a problem, I risk manage and trouble shoot for a living. Hopefully I can provide some value.

Symptom vs Problem
Most people treat fevers. A fever is rarely the problem, its a symptom of something else. In regards to what is going on right now there are multiple symptoms and multiple problems.

Causation vs Correlation
A white cop shoots a black person. Why?

• Did he know him personally and have a problem.

• Was he a bad cop.

• Was he an incompetent cop.

• Is the difference in race the cause or just a correlation in this incident?

Right now you are thinking that none of this should matter and it should have never happened... and you are 100% correct. However, it does happen and until you know why you cant fix what is broken.

At the end of the day, what I am reading from you seems to be on the right path. Keep people off the streets will keep them out of the corss-hairs. Education and employment will go a long way to keeping them off the streets. Working with guardians and parents to drive the education will put children in position to have a future. That is how you work on your community... We do not live in a vacuum so on the other side of that coin you will have to find a way to bridge the relationship between the community and those who are supposed to be protecting the community. Having to place blind trust in an Iraqi interpreter or guide while at war in Iraq is a real damn challenge at 3am in the dark of night.

The hard part and where I might start is to find someone or someones within the community that will resonate across the age ranges because it will have to be a combined effort that cuts through the bull**** fog trying to keep everyone from seeing clearly. :bng:

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Brees isn't done. You give too little respect for the integrity of players like Demario Davis and Malcolm Jenkins. Davis has already come out praising Brees' leadership in admitting to making a mistake. I have little doubt Jenkins, and the rest of the team, will do the same. This is an opportunity for ALL involved to learn something new.

At first I was one of those that didn't get the kneeling action during the anthem, but I have since learned that players that kneel have the right to do just that as Americans and I no longer have an issue with it at all. I feel Brees is learning that more and more Americans are feeling the same way. Good people do and say stupid things every day. Good people also forgive those that do and say stupid things, especially if they can learn from their mistakes.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

This is one of the best responses I’ve seen on this forum and I genuinely thank you for that. I use that analogy all the time. You’re 100% right. We tend to treat the symptoms instead of the disease. That’s the problem we ran into here in the medical field with COVID. We could only treat the symptoms because we didn’t know how to fix the disease. Again, perfect analogy.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Interesting points. I can't say I agree with "any means necessary", but I do understand the thought behind it. Violence only leads to escalation of violence. I thought MLK was much more effective than Malcolm for that reason, he brought all people together in the face of violence and it made his argument much more clear. Throwing violence into the equation and the message no longer becomes the focus.

For example, everyone was outraged by Floyd's death and the country as a whole saw the abuse taking place. If a MLK figure were around to channel that into massive marches and sit-ins EVERYONE would be aligned. Instead, we see the media constantly talking about the riots, constantly looking for the next thing to be outraged at (Drew). It's diluting the message...

I agree that the wealth gap in this country has grown to a extreme, and it's not acceptable. Unfortunately, the elite in this country do not care about the working or middle class regardless of race. Upward mobility has slowed down since the 90's, and the reason for it? Globalism. In 1998 this country's 'elite' sold the future to China. We lost millions of middle class jobs and the most impacted were minority communities. 30 Years ago you could come out of high school, go to work and land a job to support a family and house...

I wish I knew the answer to the wealth disparity, but the problem is those that really control the wealth are no longer American's, they are Global citizens. If you impose laws on them to take some of that wealth, they'll move their assets to another country.

Who are the top lobbying groups?
Who are the people controlling the media?
What do they have in common (aside from race)?
Why do they hold meetings every year (Bilderberg meetings)?
All questions that Americans should want answers to.

I love your last few paragraphs Rez, think we have a lot in common on those fronts.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

appeasement is a mistake. esp. when you didnt do anything wrong. You will never appeased the aggrieved. So Dont.
You are the sanity in a crazy world.
have to disagree w you here. Love of America is not a defect, nor is the expression of.
most dead-on statement ever to emerge from your keyboard. They better save their paychecks.
The citizens of Real Life have had enough.
And thank you for your service. I feel awful for you and also for the police, who are taking all the abuse on the front lines. Imagine being judged for the worst person in your profession, out of a million.

Brees never said he wanted kneeling banned. He disagrees with it. Its a damn sad day for America, when you cannot express respect for your Flag.
Even sadder, when you are bullied into retracting.

Spin this how you want. I dont give a damn what anyone from the internet thinks about me, and I'm not a talk show, so im not taking any calls. You can talk to yourself, if you want.

I loved these guys. I never cared what color anyone's skin was. I wanted to be OJ. But I've lost my appetite for buying tickets to see Millionaires who hate my country, because they believe lies, and then bully anyone who doesnt join their riot. I cant watch it. I cant even care about Michael Thomas anymore.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Well until others say something then it's unknown. They were quick to publicly admonish him, why not be just a quick to accept the apology?I hope it gets resolved and I hope he doesn't have to kneel unless he wants to.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

I agree with everything except MLK being more effective than Malcolm. I found it be a misnomer. To say violence is ineffective is to say that war in general is in effective. The military uses intimidation and violence all the time to get their point across if middle ground can’t be found through other means (or at least they say they try to find middle ground first).

We didn’t see the Civil Rights Act of 1968 until King was murdered and riots broke out all across the country. Not only the riots, but the act of violence against King sparked change. If violence only begets violence, I would contend that the police need to stop using violence then. I’d also contend that that’s an irrational request to a certain extent, so again, whatever yields the optimal results is something I’ll support.

Other than that, it’s safe to say I agree with you on the elites and their globalist agenda. I’ll even go as far as to say that from a militaristic standpoint I’d rather deal with the Right and their nationalism than the Left and their globalism. Not to say that those ideologies are exclusive to either party, but Trump is no globalist, and Biden is a self proclaimed Zionist. I’m probably rambling at this point. My bad.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

I will not attend any games if any Saints players kneel during the National Anthem and I will have tickets for sale. Enough of this BS. Protest at any other time you want. Don't do it during the National Anthem!

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Good seats? Discounted rate? Hit my inbox. 👀👀

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Drew's remarks appear different when you actually hear the reporter's question - which was very long-winded and difficult to answer.

WHAT Brees said isn't as much of a problem as WHEN he said it. People's emotions are running high now and during this last week lots of people with the airwaves or big platforms have been giving the props to Kaepernick. So in light of this, Brees remarks stood out like a sore thumb, even though he really didn't say anything too unusual based on his past statements and opinions. People are hearing insinuations from Brees that aren't really there because he's been contrast against Kaepernick .

People are jumping to conclusions because now everyone sees Kaepernick was spot-on about police brutality. But that doesn't automatically mean everyone (including Brees) is going to do a 180 and come to agreement or even participate in Kaepernick's protest strategy. Seems like the emotions of recent events led to some unrealistic expectations. And then social media does what it does SMH.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

they'll ALL be discounted before long.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Falsehoods have consequences.

Eventually all falsehoods will intersect with truth, and one of the two has to change.

Either the falsehood is shunned and you incorporate the new truth to help you navigate the world in a more accurate way -

- or you shun the truth and perpetuate the falsehood even further, in which case, your perception and the real world become less and less aligned, eventually resulting in a severe reality check that most people simply aren't equipped to handle.

Rumors and the game of "telephone" are good examples of this. Mainstream media perpetuates falsehoods all the time, with little repercussion or accountability for their actions.

There's no huge apology, there's no big truth campaign -- there's, at best, a tiny printed apology buried on page 14, which nobody is going to dig for or see. It's bad for business, obviously.

A lie is easy to find, but the truth, nobody has the attention span for that.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Thomas and Jenkins have both shared in the last hour that they have accepted Brees' apology and are ready to move forward, just as had Davis early.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Same here. I'd definitely be in the market for those tickets!

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Jenkins can suck a fat one. He went on a tirade against Drew. He owes Drew an even bigger apology, and it had better be very public. Otherwise he can get ****ed.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

That is the really sad part about dealing with the media. They are no longer (maybe never were) in the business of reporting the news. Today, the job is to create the news in order to get more clicks. The SOBs who pull this type of stunt need to be black-balled, and not just in sports. Don't take his calls, don't answer his questions, put the POS out of the business. Let him go flip burgers for a living.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

I just wonder... what does SP's "Whole Foods Meat Guy" have to say about all of this?

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

It's not for you or any of us to demand how Jenkins should apologize or even if he should apologize to Brees. That is personal between the two of them. It is none of our business, to be honest.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

If only players, fans and media also took this rational attitude before demanding public apologies for Brees sharing his opinion. I guess better late than never.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Oh? But it's fine that they demand an apology from him? And it's fine that they demand he agree with them? And it's fine that they took his opinion, which is his business, twisted it and used it to stab him in the back?

Your double standard is showing.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Well, Jenkins did choose to make it very public in the first place.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Nope. There is a big difference you are completely missing. Brees said something that offended many people across a wide spectrum. He offered a public apology to the general public for that statement and a private apology to others. What you are claiming Jenkins did was to the individual, Brees. It was not addressed to you, me or any other individual. Therefore, any apology is only applicable to those two individuals.

There is no double standard whatsoever.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Yes he did, but it was Brees alone that he addressed his anger toward. If there was an apology and both Brees and Jenkins were satisfied then it should be of no concern to anyone else.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

I don't disagree with your sentiment, but I feel that if you are willing to condemn someone publicly, you should be able to show forgiveness publicly as well.

Isn't that what leaders do? Lead by example. Show people how to treat others with mutual respect.

I don't personally feel like I'm owed a public apology, just saying that the "optics" aren't great from where I'm seeing.

But, again, I'm just an ignorant foreigner.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

What Brees said was very carefully worded, polite and not at all what Jenkins made it out to be. I have every right to demand he apologize for the attempted public assassination of a good man's character through the weaponization of social media. His behavior was uncalled for and inexcusable. I don't care if Drew offended one person or a hundred ****ing million people. He is as entitled to his opinion as these *******s are. And they CHOSE TO BE OFFENDED. So if they can make demands then so the **** can I. But by all means keep preaching Mr. Contrarian. We all know you live to disagree no matter the subject. Just gotta come huffing in here like you're everyone's grandpa here to get in his daily gripe session.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

So its OK for the players to demand an apology for what they deem offensive.

Kneeling during the anthem is a hell of a lot more offensive to a hell of a lot more people.

Seems to me the insensitive party in this debate are the players that kneel during what many people hold dear. Its insulting and its intentional.

The players can shove it their ass. GFY!

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

True leadership is Demario Davis.

Did he like what Brees said? No, but he explained Drew missed the point as a whole and explained how his words were perceived.

Did he go on a twitter tirade, telling Brees to shut the **** up like Jenkins or post cryptic one word tweets like Thomas and Sanders? Also no, because he has integrity and knows how to handle things in the correct way.

I get that Jenkins and Thomas and a large majority of the sporting world were unhappy with Brees, but Drew has apologised and it sounded sincere. What doesn't help is people screaming at each other over social media and causing rifts. Racists want to pit the whole world against each other.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

It looks like you are the one doing the griping, my friend.

Re: Backlash from Michael Thomas, among others, forces Drew Brees to clarify comments
 

Fair enough, but I'm not here scolding anyone for not agreeing with me. I'd say easily 75% of your posts are exactly that, on any given day, on any given subject. You're one of the preachiest people I have ever encountered, and frankly it is infuriating sometimes. Particularly when you're so very wrong but you're 100% sure that you're right.