Charles Barkley defends Drew Brees over national anthem protest comments

"Drew’s original statement, I thought, was insensitive," Barkley said. "It was very insensitive, especially during this time. But I thought the negative reaction from every talking head on television and some of his teammates was overkill. I never heard a bad word about Drew Brees in my life. He made a mistake. But we’ve gotten to the point in society where everybody on social media thinks they are God, judge and jury. Drew Brees made a mistake.

"Drew Brees was wrong in his initial statement. But the level of vitriol, anger, and things like that, I thought, was overkill. Drew Brees, whatever he said, he talked about, hey, the flag means different things to different people. But I thought the way he was portrayed on television and radio today was not fair at all. Drew Brees has done some amazing things in New Orleans in his life. I’m not even talking about football. He made a mistake in a statement. 

"For this level of, ‘We’ve got to kill everybody who says something we don't agree with,’ I’m never going to go with the mob," Barkley said. "I want to make it clear I did not like what he said right away, but the vitriol and animosity and hatred he got for the last 24 hours I thought was overkill. That's just my personal opinion."

Brees spoke about the national anthem protests with Yahoo on Wednesday at a time when athletes around the world were mourning Floyd's death and protesting police violence. 

Brees addressed the matter via a video he uploaded to Instagram on Thursday: