Drew Brees to Donald Trump: 'This Is Not an Issue About the American Flag'

One of the craziest weeks in the life of Drew Brees has ended with the New Orleans Saints quarterback directly addressing Donald Trump on Twitter. No subtweets. Drew Brees @'d Trump hours on Friday night, hours after the president shouted NO KNEELING. After a fine, but limited apology on Thursday, Brees finally addressed what the protests really mean.

"I realize this is not an issue about the American flag. It has never been. We can no longer use the flag to turn people away or distract them from the real issues that face our black communities."

Here is his full post on Instagram.

View this post on Instagram

To @realdonaldtrump Through my ongoing conversations with friends, teammates, and leaders in the black community, I realize this is not an issue about the American flag. It has never been. We can no longer use the flag to turn people away or distract them from the real issues that face our black communities. We did this back in 2017, and regretfully I brought it back with my comments this week. We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform. We are at a critical juncture in our nation’s history! If not now, then when? We as a white community need to listen and learn from the pain and suffering of our black communities. We must acknowledge the problems, identify the solutions, and then put this into action. The black community cannot do it alone. This will require all of us.

A post shared by Drew Brees (@drewbrees) on Jun 5, 2020 at 7:10pm PDT

Between this and Roger Goodell admitting the NFL was wrong to discourage protests, it was a big step in the right direction.

The last time Brees said he was against disrespecting the flag people let it go in a sea of a lot of the same thing. This time they kept pushing. He heard from current and former teammates and listened.