METAIRIE, La. – Malcolm Jenkins has said he believes the dialogue between him and his longtime friend and New Orleans Saints teammate Drew Brees this summer was “important to the country and important to us.”
Jenkins has been one of Brees’ harshest critics after Brees said in June that he “would never agree with anyone who disrespects the flag” by kneeling during the national anthem. But both players insisted they had good conversations immediately afterward and over the following months. And his teammates praised Brees for his sincere efforts to become an ally of the black community in his fight for racial equality and social justice.
“I feel like Drew and I were friends long before 2020,” said Jenkins, who joined the Saints this year in free agency after starting his team career from 2009 to 2013. “And obviously the dialogue that he and I had to have, publicly, but also in private, I think it was important for the country to do and important for us to do, and I think that even going beyond this moment it will continue. But when it comes to friendship, the willingness for both of us to engage in this dialogue has been cooperative and encouraging. “
Brees and Jenkins both said during training camp that they believe the team has made positive progress thanks to the productive dialogue that has taken place since then – through private conversations and full team discussions.
“I think if anything, the team is probably closer to it, because we must have had these difficult conversations,” said Jenkins, who spoke with the New Orleans media by video conference Thursday to the first time since the start of the camp. “A lot of times these adversities or these kinds of intimate engagements bring people together. And I think that’s no exception.”
Jenkins, who has spent the past six years with the Philadelphia Eagles, has been one of the most visible sports activists for social justice as a co-founder of the Players Coalition and an analyst for CNN, among others. And he was deeply moved in an Instagram video he posted following Brees ‘comments in June, saying he was “hurt” by Brees’ comments and that they were “extremely self-centered.”
“It’s unfortunate because I considered you a friend. I admired you. You are someone I had a lot of respect for. But sometimes you should shut the f — up,” Jenkins said in the video that he later deleted and replaced with a version that did not include the curse word.
Brees said earlier this month that he and Jenkins had reconciled, calling him a friend and an “ally.”
Brees said it “broke my heart” and was “overwhelming” that his comments made people feel that he was not supporting the black community for social justice.
“All of our goals are aligned,” Brees said of his teammates. “It’s not about me. Our focus as a team and group of leaders is on this season and all the things we can accomplish together for social justice.”
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