Tom Benson, the owner of the New Orleans Saints, and military veteran, released a bold statement this week.
One of the things I am most proud of is my military service. And there are few things that are more important to me than the honor that I feel we must bestow upon our military men and women – the honor we must show our flag – and standing at attention for our flag and our national anthem is a powerful symbol we must respect.
As an owner in the NFL and NBA for years, I have met many players, coaches and staff from seemingly every background possible. But as this week has demonstrated, there are very sensitive, difficult and emotional matters affecting this country. Now more than ever we must find solutions that unite and don’t divide us.
Finally saying what we all wanted to here.
Today, Drew Brees and team leadership stated that our team will stand for the national anthem. Regarding the issues of social injustice, I stand ready to offer our organizations, our players, and our community meaningful support and resources to move from protest to solution.
He further stated a desire to resolve these issues.
With my heart, I respect everyone’s very honest and sincere opinions that I have heard personally on this subject all week. We are committed to work with our players and our community to be unified to create positive change for all citizens.
So why is he releasing this? According to Sports Illustrated, 10 Saints didn’t stand for the anthem last Sunday, though they didn’t kneel either rather they sat on the bench.
The 10 Saints sat for the anthem who sat for the anthem were: safety Rafael Bush, safety Kenny Vaccaro, safety Chris Banjo, defensive end Alex Okafor, defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, defensive end Cameron Jordan, running back Adrian Peterson, running back Alvin Kamara, running back Mark Ingram and receiver Brandon Coleman.
It’s nice to see that there are still some patriots in these positions in our great Country.