Martellus Bennett joined the national conversation on Twitter on the topics of systemic racism and racial justice amid the George Floyd protests.
The former New England Patriots tight end offered his perspective on Drew Brees and the death of Floyd. And Bennett peeled back the curtain on racism in the NFL. Bennett has never been afraid to voice his opinion, and his thoughts on Wednesday were important and powerful.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, Brees said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag.”
“And is everything right with our country right now? No, it’s not,” Brees said in the interview. “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 later apologized for the remarks on Instagram after his teammates and NFL players around the league reminded him that protests are not about the flag or the military — but rather about standing against racial injustice.
Bennett put together a tremendous Twitter thread with reflections which followed Brees’ comments.
Adding to his statements later in the day, Bennett certainly made his feelings clear. It will be interesting to see if he adds any further comments on this issue, as some of football’s biggest stars continue to speak out.
