Peter King has a lot of super personal relationships with a lot of players, so when they are in trouble he is one of their go-to guys to make them look better.
I have read Lord of the Flies, what happened to Brees was absolutely nothing like that and to imply the athletes who were upset at him came at him like a bunch of savages is irresponsible and stereotypical.
Here is what he said.
Today’s sports culture is interesting. Instead of reaching out to Brees and saying, Hey, that’s insulting to us, teammates and foes alike jeered Brees on social media—first wideout Michael Thomas, then safety Malcolm Jenkins, finally LeBron James. Brees got flash-bombed everywhere. “Sometimes you need to shut the f— up,” said teammate and Players Coalition leader Malcolm Jenkins in an Instagram post he later deleted. As one person close to Brees told me, the social-media rip jobs reminded him of “Lord of the Flies.” In that book, normal British boys get stranded on a desert island and have to fend for themselves, and they spiral into savagery to survive. Sounds about right.
This wasn’t even the worst thing in the column, King published a white Jewish man who was on Brees said.
There is nothing wrong with that on the surface until you read what he has to say.
Brees should be forgiven. From Joe Dodi: “I am white. I am a Saints fan. Maybe that lessens the value of what I have to say. Maybe it doesn’t. I am also Jewish. And while definitely have not experienced racism on the same level as most black Americans, I have experienced anti-semitism. And in a small way can relate. I saw Drew’s comments and like most people I was very disappointed. To me it was very tone deaf. Then came the deluge of emotional reactions from his teammates and fellow football players. Then he came out with his apology the next morning, and while many accepted it and tried to bring the focus back to the real issue, many more refused to accept that he was being sincere and continued to berate him.
“Drew Brees has done more for the predominately black city of New Orleans than any other single person alive today. His entire career he has been praised for his class and doing things the right way. I don’t agree with what he said. I do think it was more than just an unfortunate mistake. It reflects a way of thinking that is toxic. But to call him a racist is asinine. Drew Brees is a very, very good person. His heart is in the right place and his actions reflect that. I think that most white Americans think like he does and that is a problem. However, he listened. He understood that what he said was very wrong, and he apologized. It’s a real shame that a lifetime of honest, really good actions was destroyed in a single moment.”
Joe seems like a nice guy who understands what is going on, but there is no way a white man should be saying Brees has done more for black people in New Orleans than anyone else. That’s insulting, there have been people in New Orleans fighting for the city way before Brees and will be doing it well after Brees leaves.
This was just a piece to make Brees look better, not surprising.
Flip the pages for Brees’ apologies.
