Taking a knee and taking a stand
Veteran RB Peterson speaks out about Brees’ comments, protesting police brutality
Veteran Washington running back Adrian Peterson and New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees once shared a huddle and a locker room.
But the former teammates’ views on kneeling during the national anthem at NFL games couldn’t be more different. Especially after the video of the dying moments of Houston native George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis, with those since-fired officers now facing murder charges.
Although the former league Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year emphasized that he respects Brees as a person, Peterson, 35, couldn’t disagree more sharply on the quarterback’s controversial stance regarding on-field protests intended to raise awareness about police brutality and social injustice.
This combustible issue has dominated conversations around the league ever since Brees’ widely criticized interview with Yahoo Finance where he said “I will never agree with anybody disrespect
ing the flag of the United States of America,” while referencing his older relatives’ military service.
“Once I saw the question that was asked, it was like he diverted and went straight to what he wasn’t going to participate in and what he stood for,” Peterson said Friday at his gym, O Athletik, in the Heights while distributing food packages with his wife, Ashley, and Astros player Alex Bregman to families in need. “I know Drew Brees. He’s not a racist at all, and I have a lot of love for him, but I think this was a situation where he should have thought things out more and tried to look at things in a different view. He made a comment about what he thinks about his grandfather and his greatgrandfather going to war.
“My parents had greatgrandparents that went to war as well, but when they came back, they still weren’t able to vote. We just didn’t have the same rights. When you look at it from that point of view, we understand where you’re coming from, but we don’t understand where you’re coming from as well for those reasons. We still don’t have equality in the United States. Our people fought as well and played a big role in the victory. I love Drew. I have nothing but respect for him, but I think he should have thought about it a little longer.”
Brees has twice apologized publicly and privately to try to resolve an issue that could potentially divide the Saints’ locker room and has prompted protesters to curse his name in New Orleans.
“It breaks my heart to know the pain I have caused,” Brees wrote on Instagram. “I recognize that I am part of the solution and can be a leader for the black community in this movement. I will never know what it’s like to be a black man or raise black children in America, but I will work every day to put myself in those shoes and fight for what is right. I am sick about
the way my comments were perceived, but I take full responsibility and accountability.”
Not surprisingly, President Donald Trump, who encouraged NFL owners to fire players who kneel during the anthem, has supported Brees on Twitter.
“I am a big fan of Drew Brees,” Trump wrote. “I think he’s truly one of the greatest quarterbacks, but he should not have taken back his original stance on honoring our magnificent American Flag. OLD GLORY is to be revered, cherished, and flown high. We should be standing up straight and tall, ideally with a salute, or a hand on heart. There are other things you can protest, but not our Great American Flag — NO KNEELING!”
Brees responded to Trump on Friday night, saying the conversation must turn from the flag and toward “real issues of systemic racial injustice” such as police brutality.
Years after Colin Kaepernick first took a knee along with Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, Arian Foster, Texans safety Michael Thomas and others, several players are expected to revive that peaceful protest this season to raise awareness. Count Peterson, a Palestine native who has rushed for 14,216 career yards and 111 touchdowns, among those planning to kneel.
“Just four years ago, you’re seeing Kaepernick taking a knee, and now we’re all getting ready to take a knee together going into this season, without a doubt,” Peterson said.
Asked if he will take a knee this fall, Peterson replied: “Yeah, without a doubt, without a doubt.”
Kaepernick hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2016 season. He filed a grievance against the NFL alleging collusion between the league and its owners to keep him from playing, and later reached a confidential financial settlement. Since the controversy surrounding Kaepernick in 2016, Peterson has seen progress with more progressive attitudes around the league toward social justice and racial issues.
“It definitely has evolved for sure,” Peterson said. “You went from Kaepernick being banned from the league, and now you see so many guys coming together. It was an eye-opener then. So much has transpired since then.
“We’ve got to put the effort in as a group collectively. Are they going to try to punish us all? If not, playing football is going to help us save lives and change things, then that’s what it needs to be.”
To see tangible progress, though, Peterson is watching what happens in pending legal proceedings for former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who jammed his knee into the neck of Floyd while he pleaded “I can’t breathe.”
“I feel like the movement right now has been positive; the real results come once that jury decides the fate of those gentlemen,” Peterson said. “When you’re looking at it through our lens, it’s so frustrating and devastating to see some of the tragic things that are happening to our people.
“I was looking at a (Floyd) video that I hadn’t seen before where you see the guy sitting there telling the officer, ‘Hey, take your knee off his neck. He’s not moving. He’s handcuffed. You’ve got four guys.’ And it’s like, it’s so intentional. It hurts your heart. It’s really sad.”
Disgusted by what happened to Floyd, a former Yates football and basketball player, Peterson and his wife, Ashley, are having difficult, frank conversations with their children about the tragedy.
“They’re watching us watch this, and they’re asking questions, it’s hard for me to sit there and say, ‘Son, this is mainly because of the color of his skin,’ ” Peterson said. “The look on his face, he’s lost, he’s confused, he doesn’t fully understand the dynamic of things like that. We’re teaching our young kids at a young age this is the world we’re living in and we’re open for change.”