Geoff Schwartz Is Smarter Than You - Drew Brees Backtracks Anthem Stance

Episode Date: June 4, 2020

Drew Brees issued an apology Thursday for his comments on "disrespecting the flag," saying he "completely missed the mark." Geoff revisits Drew's original comments to re-examine where things went wrong. Later, we'll have an update on how training camps will be conducted this season, and review of how the NFL can learn from the NBA's plans to return. Drew Brees: (0:20) Training Camp Lookahead: (11:50) NBA to Return: (20:59) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

it's thursday june 4th and this is jeff schwartz is smarter than you a bonus midweek episode i was hoping would stick a lot to football and it will we'll talk about the nfl and their decision to take away training camps remote training camps i should say the decision not have joint practice we'll talk about the nba return to play which is coming feels like forever but 60 days away. What can the NFL learn from the way the NBA is doing this? We have to start with Drew Brees and the controversy over his comments yesterday

to, of all publications, a Yahoo Finance reporter. Drew Brees was asked a long question. In the question mentioned Colin Kaepernick's protest, police brutality, and it ended the question mentioned Colin Kaepernick's protest, police brutality, and it ended the question with this important line. The question ended with, I'm curious how you think the NFL will and should respond to that. And of course, this is the important part.

You're such a leader in the league. What is your responsibility as a leader in times like this for the rest of your teammates and players in the league? This is a softball question. It is a question that could have been answered in so many ways to show that he has the compassion and empathy to understand his teammates that are struggling right now, his teammates that are hurting right now. His teammates have been trying to get across a message for four years now, but more recently, we're talking about the last week,

and this is how he answered. Well, I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country. Oh, boy. I mean, that's the first line, obviously. There's a lot about how the flag makes him feel, the anthem makes him feel about his grandparents who fought during World War II. And again, it's fine for Drew Brees to feel this way about the flag and what the anthem means to him. And there's no problem with Brees feeling this type of way.

The issue here is a couple. feeling this type of way. The issue here is a couple. One is that he went back to the idea that players that are protesting during the anthem by taking a knee are disrespecting the flag of the United States of America. That has been not even proven, but it has been talked about by players in the NFL, by teammates of his, that this is not true. No matter how many times they have said this, people refuse to say otherwise and refuse to acknowledge that it's not about disrespecting the flag. It's a peaceful protest because players want to see change. They want to raise awareness to the issues that are close to them and the issues that they feel need to be addressed.

And that was a time that they can use to raise awareness during that time. So he went right back to the disrespectful of the flag thing, which again, for the zillion of time, is not what the protest was about or is about or is going to be about this year. And he could have gone across his message, what he believes, and also support his teammates. Show some compassion, empathy in a time when they're hurting. Very easily, guys. Here's how he does it. Ready?

I would personally stand for the National Anthem. I would not take a knee because all this. All could have said. The grandparents, the pride. He mentioned the civil rights movement, you can mention all that as why you would like to stand. But the very end, but I understand why my teammates would take a knee. That's all you have to say. That's all you have to say.

Even if you disagree with why they're taking a knee, just be supportive. That's all players are it's a base level that his teammates are asking him to do is just hey i got your back guys i got your back and he just couldn't do it now i know he's apologized today but the apology he's a stock a stock image of a black arm and a white arm interlocking and talked about it. And look, Drew Brees has done plenty of good in New Orleans. He has donated plenty of money. And there's no doubt that he has improved the lives of people in New Orleans with his donations and with his time. But the fact is, it's four years now to figure out this is not about disrespecting the flag. But he was asked a

question about leadership, and he just immediately went to disrespect the flag of the United States of America. This is going to be a huge, huge problem for Drew and his teammates. It's not going to be cured by having a Zoom or by talking about it, talking with your teammates, which I know Cam Jordan talked to. I don't know who else talked to him, but I'm sure people have. Malcolm Jenkins went after him as well. It's a lot. It Jenkins went after him as well. You know, there's, it's a lot. It's going to be an issue.

Mike Freeman from Bleacher Report, he had two quotes from two players. The first said, these are in Saints locker room. The first said that Breeze mirrors the beliefs of some whites that symbolism is more important than black life. The flag is a thing. It's a symbol, an important one. But George Floyd was a human being who was murdered like a freaking dog. We don't cuss very often in this podcast. There's a cuss word there. Second player, how could Drew be around a locker room of black men and know nothing about what happens to us?

That is the quote right there. You spent four years now in a locker room with players who do talk about this, right? Players talk about these issues, especially now. We talked about, I think on Monday's podcast, maybe we did, maybe it was somewhere else talked about, you know, the interaction between players. And you have to want to learn. You have to want to be curious about other cultures. You want to have to learn about your teammates, more than just the surface stuff, like family and general background stuff.

But you have to be willing to listen to what teammates are saying. And it clearly, Breeze has not wanted to listen, or not tried to listen, or he's being obtuse. I don't know what, I don't know how he could blow an opportunity like this. Again, even if he doesn't believe what he's saying, just read the room, man. Just get it right. There's going to be a lot to repair. I mean, Malcolm Jenkins cussed him out and then he deleted the video and came

back and he's crying in the video. I mean, this is going to be, and you should go watch Malcolm Jenkins' video, by the way. It was great. Four minutes just about how he's feeling. Obviously, he encapsulates this much better than I can do. I'd advise you to go watch that video. But again, man, it's like he had a layup, a slam dunk, and just whiffed. He whiffed. He could have made this so much easier. I know he apologized today, but the apology is not going to do very much. People want to see action.

And again, I get it. Drew Brees has donated money, donated time. There's no disputing that he has used his platform for good, disputing that he has used his platform for good but it's there's no dispute he does not understand how his teammates feel about this this uh this issue it's very clear and you know of course some people are talking about free yeah he's allowed to say what he wants the problem is there are there are repercussions for saying what you want and he said it it's just a benign interview it was yahoo finance they, you slam dunk, dude. And players have a right to be upset.

Look, if you agree with Breeze, fine. But you have to understand, this is not just about Breeze. It's about his teammates. It's about his teammates. It's about his teammates. That's what this is about, guys. We talked about this on Monday with Duke. Showing empathy and compassion and understanding for your teammates and what they're going through.

And even if you don't agree with everything that they are protesting about, which I don't know how you would disagree with it, or you don't agree with any part of it, just show that you've listened, that you've understood. And that's the thing with the hurtful part about it more than anything else. It wasn't – it sounds like he hasn't listened in four years. You even ask him if he was disrespectful to the flag. We get it, man. There's plenty more to get to on the quote. There's ways to interpret things he talked about.

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 then we are all part of the solution. You know,

and Zuri is a, is a great producer for this podcast. And he, he shared some thoughts too. I mean, there's there's some things I think they're very important. He said, too,

he said to me, and we talk about, we share notes and he helps me get ready for the show. And he said, you know, he said to me, you know, finally, you're just talking about kind of this quote. He said, technically correct but mimics all lives matter language attention or not.

And that's part of the problem, right? The languaging, the way he's talking about this issue doesn't really sound very personal to him, right? It sounds like he's like we – you know, the we thing. Like he's talking about him, him helping to make a difference. What can you do to make a difference what can you do um to to make a difference and look the thing about it too i think that it's like it's it it is he just seems so proud of it right like he just seems so proud to say this when again it wasn't asked of him it's it's like it's like if it's like if someone asked me you know if you were in the locker room, how would you deal

with this? I just said, it's disrespectful to flag. And like, it just, it didn't even address the question. So, look at other people with other backgrounds have shared stories about how their grandparents or their fathers were in the military and came back and were treated a certain type of way. And those stories are just as valid as Drew Brees' story. And just again, Drew is just not listening to his teammates. He's not listening to players of color, minorities that have shared stories that are not the same as his, that have shared stories of their parents coming back from World War II and their grandparents really and being harassed and not being treated with the respect that they deserve for fighting for our country.

And again, it just comes off, I keep repeating myself, as just ignorant. This whole statement and what he said. Look, everyone has a different idea of what the flag means to them. And again, it's not a problem that Breeze feels this way about the flag again it's not a problem that breeze feels this way about the flag it's not a problem at all the problem again is that he's projecting his beliefs into someone else that's the issue so that's breezy apologize can take a lot of work to to figure this out michael thomas tweet about it he was vocal but we're finding a time too when players are just more vocal about about these issues and i think it's just because they're able to do that now without there's there's an understanding um – there's an understanding now that I think being vocal about what's happening around you and sensitive subjects is okay now. We've gotten to a point now in our society where you're not going to – you shouldn't – if you feel strongly about or passionate about something, it's okay to talk about it.

The NFL just kind of needs to get over it really. And they have kind of gotten over it, I think, too. So, you know, we're moving that direction. We're seeing a lot more players talk about things. We saw yesterday, I mean, people crushed Drew Brees. Oh, LeBron did. Other NFL players did. I mean, Ed Reed called him a sucker.

So, we're seeing more. And Ed Reed's obviously retired in the Hall of Fame. But we're seeing just more and more players now speak up. And I think we're seeing a turning of the tide. We're seeing more players just use their platform, college and NFL. There's some things happening in college football with Florida State and some have an Oregon State yesterday as well. A player got dismissed there. Players just be more vocal.

They're using their platform. And look, you might disagree with the message, but they're allowed to say whatever they want, just like you're allowed to say whatever you want. Now it's consequences like we talked about. But all right, so let's move on to more just specific NFL things. The NFL has announced that they will not hold remote training camps this year. And not a lot of teams still go to training camp.

Now, I played on three of those teams that still go. The Panthers go to Wofford College. The Vikings go to Mankato State. The Chiefs go to – I think it's Missouri Western is up there. I forget what – actually, it's in St. Joe's. I know that. And then I went to the Giants that used to go out of state, and now they don't anymore.

Yes, it's Missouri Western State where the Chiefs anymore. Yes, this is Missouri, Missouri, Western State, where the Chiefs go. NFL, this is the right call, obviously. The NFL can try to avoid any sort of contamination period where players can be somewhere that the environment is just not as controlled. And obviously, even if you're in St. Joe's, let's say you're the Chiefs, the last one I went to, you're in the dorm and you're just going back and forth between dorm field, dorm field. But there's people that come visit from all over the place that come to training camp.

And it makes sense to do this. Now, generally speaking, I actually like going away for training camp for many reasons. One, the team camaraderie is the best part, right? I mean, you're with your teammates the entire time. Chemistry is not built by like on the field field per se it's built with the conversations you have in the locker room the conversations you have in the dorms with getting to know your teammate better and in training camp with with just your team that's all you have to do you can always spend time with your team you talk to your teammates you learn about them and you build the

chemistry now it carries over the field. And wins and losses definitely helps. I mean, when you're winning, chemistry is better. When you're losing, it's very tough. I played on a 2-14 team. I understand how tough it can be to have chemistry. But that team was still close because we got to know each other, we liked each other, and we stuck together in a 2-14 season. I mean, it was just with Jimmy Closs at the panel.

It was terrible. But my point is that you get to know each other during training camp when you're away. And the distractions thing we talk about in the NFL, look, your family during training camp can be a distraction. Even though it's great to see your family. I remember when I got to the Giants, we didn't go away. And I had my young son and I saw him almost every day at training camp. It was fantastic. I liked seeing him. But there's days where I didn't have a good practice and he made me feel better, but still I just didn't want to talk to my family.

I was being sad, feeling bad for myself. You have to work through those issues sometimes by yourself. You know your family does cheer you up, and don't get me wrong, but it definitely cheers you up to see your young son. But sometimes you just have to wallow in your own pity and figure out football. And doing that in the dorm by yourself with your teammates

just kind of builds a little toughness and a little a little a little uh cohesion a little you build those calluses in training camp that way and so um they're obviously made the right call here but i i i think that's that there's still some charm to it so some charm to going away for training camp being with your buddies no distractions no family you're not going there's not going, there's no, there's no, you know, girls around to distract players. You know, obviously players still, you know, find a way to at times get someone over there. But, you know, the dorm is a time that you do pranks, joke around, you hang out at night. It's just bond, man. You, you do, you do what you can to really get to know each other.

And I think that's so important. In 2015, I played with Marshall Newhouse. It's the longest I played with someone since, next to someone, I would say, since, I guess, Eric Fischer in 2013, but really more with the Panthers in 2010. And Marshall and I just, we just got to know each other, man.

Like, I consider Marshall a good friend of mine. And when you get to know somebody, and I was older than that, I tried to get to know the guy I played next to, but you just communicate better. You understand that, you know, certain things you say, certain ways you behave, you act. You understand what buttons to push on your teammate.

You understand how to motivate them. You understand how to communicate with them. Some players need to know exactly what you're saying. Hey, we have this guy right here. We have this block right here. With Marshall, I'd have to say that. I'd say, hey, you good? Good. And that's built obviously through practice, but also just getting to know the guy, getting to know that I could do that with Marshall. I was close enough with him where he knew what I was saying. And, you know, we like, you know, we had a pressure. Hey, you see that? You good? Okay. We're good. Yeah, good. I mean, that right there meant we were blocking, we're doing something different now. Hey, man, you see that? Good, good, good. Okay. We're doing

something different again. It's just that you build that process up, in my opinion, through training camp. Now that training camp wasn't't away but we were older players by then but when you're a young player you kind of you build up i think you become a better teammate when you learn everyone your team and true breeze to learn from that as well right i mean being a better teammate and again i don't think he's a terrible teammate but hard to repair this i think training camp has that charm going away training camp always so many pranks i'll tell you guys one prank. So this was 2009 or 10, I want to say. Jordan Gross and Ryan Khalil with the Panthers, a great prankster.

So they told the head of security to get up in front of the team and tell us there was someone coming through Wofford College we were staying. The dorms, by the way, are everywhere. They're POS. Going away to training camp in the dorm is not fun because the dorm sucks. But camp's not supposed The dorms, by the way, are everywhere. They're POS. Going away to training camp in the dorm is not fun because the dorms suck. But camp's not supposed to be fun, by the way. So it kind of made sense that they sucked. But nonetheless, let's get back to the story. So we go. Gene Brown gets up in front of the team and says, hey, guys, I want you guys to know there's been some break-ins on campus by the dorms. And there's a guy with a mask on walking around campus.

Just be careful. Just be careful. Just watch out for him. We're going to watch for him, but be careful. He's breaking in cars, breaking in dorms. So he told us this once. Guys started talking about the locker room. Oh, man, I'm going to be ready for this guy.

Guys were carrying their key between their knuckle to get ready to punch somebody. They were getting ready for it. So one night, Ryan and Jordan come to me and say, hey, this is a prank that we told Gene about this. We're going to film guys getting scared by someone with a mask on. Can you help us? I said, yeah, I'll help you guys. So we went in my truck. I had a blanket. Ryan called out a mask. We put the mask on Ryan. I think it was Ryan or Jordan, one or two, put the mask on him, Put a blanket over them like a cape basically. And we went to

people's rooms and scared them. Oh man, it was great. Guys were so... One guy tried to punch... I think it was Jordan. One guy tried to punch Jordan. Guys were full off their chairs. All set up. It was a week-long prank. It was incredible. So that's stuff you don't get

when you don't do training camp at home. And again, look, it's something very small, but that stuff brings joy to training camp. It loosens it up. You have fun with it. I think the more fun you have, the better teammates you become. So that's what training camp, obviously.

You're going to miss that. Looking at another NFL topic, they haven't done completely canceled this yet. No more joint practices. So joint practice is when, let's say, I did it in Detroit. You're from Detroit. You fly to Pittsburgh. You play the Steelers on a Saturday.

You come in on Wednesday. You practice. Really, you come in, I think, on Tuesday. You practice Wednesday, Thursday against the Steelers. Then Friday, you get ready for the game. You play Saturday. And those often have big brawls. Now, I was playing with Jim Caldwell, the Lions, Mike Tomlin, the Steelers.

There was nothing, nothing happened between our teams. I mean, it was very respectful. Both coaches talked about it. But we've seen tons of brawls in joint practices. It's the first time typically you're playing against someone of a different uniform. You're excited to get after it. But practices are basically split up. So one field is the Lions offense and the Steelers defense. of a different uniform. You're excited to get after it. But practices are basically split up.

So, you know, one field is the Lions offense and the Steelers defense. The other side of the field, Steelers offense, Lions defense. And you just have a practice against each other. All the drills are against someone else. You have your individual period, then, you know, one-on-one run block, one-on-one pass block, seven-on-seven, just against someone else. One day you do, you know, one day we did the Lions practice schedule,

one day we did the Steelers practice schedule. And, you know, the Steelers defense is interesting because they run that kind of 3-4, true 3-4 we don't see very often. So it was interesting playing that. It was good practice for us. And then you get to the game and playing against guys you just practiced with, you get a little scouting report. But the point of the joint scrimmages now is with less time to

hit now in practice have pads on and hit each other and the lack of an opportunity to practice as long as you used to be able to practice these joint practices almost felt like another preseason game an opportunity to go against an opponent that you don't really know. In the preseason, we don't really scout very much. When you get into preseason games, you don't really watch much film of your opponent until the third game. So it's practically someone else. And coaches can evaluate you,

get your competitive juices going a little bit, and it just livens up camp a little bit. You kind of get that away mentality. We went away. It wasn't at home. Coaches love it because they count it as almost like another preseason game, another way to evaluate you against other opponents. Last topic here, the NBA decide to, it looks like a 22-team format

to restart the season in Orlando July 31st. There will be 13 Western Conference teams, nine Eastern Conference teams, eight regular season games, possible play tournament for the A-seed, and playoff sources say this is going to happen at a bubble in Orlando. The players, by the way, will be able to leave and go eat and hang out with their families. I think the number one thing here is that there was talk about the players kind of living

in this bubble, right? And kind of not going anywhere. That's really unrealistic. And the unrealistic part of that is that you can't just confine players to basically just live in a bubble for two months. And so with that, players are going to test positive for coronavirus. It's going to happen. Too many players, too much movement. The question becomes, this is what the NFL have to deal with too. This

is kind of the NFL point here. The NBA is going to have players test positive for coronavirus. How do they handle a player testing positive? How's the NFL going to handle a player testing positive? We've really seen no guidelines so far on how the NBA is going to do this. There really is no guideline on how the NBA is going to have safety protocols. It says here they have uniform daily testing for coronavirus

within the Disney campus. It says here that if a player tests positive for the virus, the league's intent would be to remove that player from the team and quarantine and treat individually. So that's what they're going to have to do. I mean, that's what the NFL can take away from this. Not really how the format they're doing it. They have a lot of time to do it.

But the NBA will be the first sports league back, major sports league. We know NASCAR, golf is back. Baseball might never get back. But hockey might be back at some point. But the first major sports league, the one that shut down everything with Rudy Gobert tested positive, is how are they going to deal with players testing positive for coronavirus? It's going to happen. It's going to happen in the NFL.

It's going to happen in college football. It's going to happen. And my thought on this all along has been what the NBA is going to do, what the NFL is going to do, what they're all going to do. Quarantine the player, continue on. Once the ship takes sail, starts sailing, whatever term you want to use, there is no turning around. There's use. There is no turning around. There's none.

You're not turning around. So much time and energy has gone into the NBA figuring out how they're going to get back to play. Look at this. A 13 Western Conference team, nine Eastern Conference teams, maybe a play-in game. They have to build an entire facility in Orlando, house the players. They spent months doing this. It's not going to be stopped by a single playerin game. They'll have to build an entire facility in Orlando, house the players. They spent months doing this. It's not going to be stopped by a single-player testing positive.

The NFL and college football, as they ramp up, a single-player tested positive is not going to stop the machine at all. There's too much at stake for this to stop. I mean, you've seen a big cruise ship take off from port. How hard would it be just to turn around and come back?

Very hard, right? So it's not going to happen. Now, even if three, four, five guys test positive, maybe there's a thought there. The consideration for any sort of suspension of play, my guess would be on the football side, especially one position room just being decimated. Hey, all the quarterbacks are sick. Maybe you just forfeit the game that week. The coaches being sick is a problem.

That, the coaches are more at risk than the players are. So my one takeaway is the idea that, look, someone's going to test positive and just, can we live with that? Can we live with someone testing positive? And I think we have to live with it. That's the new reality. I hate saying the new reality because it's not really a new reality, but the new normal for sports right now is that idea,

is the idea that you are going to have to be okay with players testing positive for coronavirus. And they might be asymptomatic, might be symptomatic. Whatever it is, that's going to happen. And teams will adjust accordingly based on who they have ready to play. Leagues will adjust accordingly, but that is going to be the normal for this season. Maybe next season too. Player test positive.

Continue on. It's going to happen. All right, guys. I appreciate you joining me for the bonus Thursday episode. Please rate, review, subscribe. Really appreciate the feedback I got in the last episode with Duke. Duke's fantastic. I've known him for 20 years now.

Great guy. All right, guys. Have a great weekend. We're back Monday. Take care.