Former NBA Player Stephen Jackson Says 'F--k Drew Brees' in Instagram Video

Stephen Jackson had a lot of words to say about Drew Brees continuing to stand against players who protest police brutality and discrimination during the national anthem.

However, his general point came down to three: "F--k Drew Brees."

"Shoutout Michael Thomas, man. Way to hold Drew Brees accountable, Mike. I don't give a damn if he throws you all those touchdowns—hold his ass accountable. Bad timing, Drew Brees, bad timing. You play in New Orleans, and you live in New Orleans. All them black people in New Orleans that support you, Drew Brees you gotta be a little more sensitive to the timing, bruh. You can't saying s--t out your ass.

"You should understand, but you gotta hold all y'all white teammates accountable. F--k all that s--t. We gotta end that shit—no straddling the fence. Y'all gotta check your teammates. Michael Thomas, I salute you—f--k Drew Brees. Way to check his ass. If you ain't down with us, then you on the other side."

Brees drew widespread criticism Wednesday, becoming the top trend on Twitter, after saying he still does not support players kneeling during the national anthem.

"I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country," Brees told Daniel Roberts of Yahoo! Finance. "Is everything right with our country right now? No, it is not. We still have a long way to go.

"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 that we are all part of the solution."

Brees' comments were roundly criticized, including by teammates Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara.

"He don't know no better. We don't care if you don't agree and whoever else how about that," Thomas said in a pair of tweets, later adding a puking emoji response that could be interpreted as a subtweet in Brees' direction.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James also forcefully criticized Brees and defended the protests during the anthem, which began with Colin Kaepernick in 2016:

Brees attempted to clarify his comments in an interview with ESPN's Mike Triplett but did not back off his stance.

"I love and respect my teammates and I stand right there with them in regards to fighting for racial equality and justice," Brees said. "I also stand with my grandfathers who risked their lives for this country and countless other military men and women who do it on a daily basis."

The clarification has done little to quell the criticism.

Kaepernick's peaceful protests during the anthem have been regularly juxtaposed against the recent, and at times violent, protests going on around the U.S. after the death of George Floyd. Many have pointed to Kaepernick being shunned and remaining unsigned by NFL teams four years after his protests began—along with the lack of progress in improving police brutality against black people—as a sign that more forceful acts of protest were necessary to generate change.