June 3, 2020 • 28 mins
It's The Best of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard and Rob Parker! Los Angeles sports television and radio host Fred Roggin is in for Chris, and he and Rob explain why Drew Brees appears unbelievably tone deaf for saying he would ‘never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America’ during the same week that people across the country are protesting the unlawful treatment of minorities at the hands of police officers (the same thing that inspired Colin Kaepernick to kneel during the national anthem back in 2016), and wonder aloud how Brees will be received in the New Orleans Saints locker room by many of his black teammates moving forward. Plus, former NFL player and Army ranger Nate Boyer stops by to share his thoughts on Brees' comments and explain why he thinks the Saints signal caller missed the point of the protest.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching fs R.
(00:22):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brussa and Ron Harker. Give me a little elbow
room so we can get started. But I'm gonna tell
you the comments by Drew Brees really cut me deep today.
(00:42):
And first let's hear what he said. I will never
agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States
of America or our country. Let me just tell you
what I see or what I feel when the national
anthem is played, and when I look at the flag
of the United States, I envisioned my two grandfathers who
(01:02):
fought for this country during World War Two, one in
the Army and one of the Marine Corps, both risking
their lives to protect our country and to try to
make our country in this world a better place. No way, no, how,
Drew Brees, are we accepting that any longer. You are
(01:23):
not an ot going to change the narrative. This is
not about the flag. Stop it already with this nonsense.
Drew Brees is a part of the problem. Those comments
are disingenuous and wrong. That's what they are. Anyone, anyone listening,
(01:52):
if anyone brings up the flag, you should denounce them,
you should discount them, and you should discard them. It's
an excuse, that's all it is. Colin Kaepernick gets said
a million times, it's not about the flag. Why in
the world would that be your narrative, that be your
(02:16):
conversation After George Floyd was murdered at the hands of
a white policeman in full view, how dare you bring
up the military. It's about racial injustice, It's about police brutality.
That is going to be the conversation. You will not
(02:38):
take this from us. People have taken the streets. I
know he gave money and Drew Brees helping New Orleans
and I heard all those stories. I don't want to
hear him today. I want Drew Breese to denounce racism,
denounce social injustice, and talk about the issue at hand.
(03:02):
Stop it and this whole thing when people bring up
the military your patriotism. I'm sorry, it's not gonna hide
your racism. You can't use it. And let's talk about
(03:22):
the military. It's not This is only the military, and
being proud of the military is only a white thing. Patriotism.
People want to say black people are patriotic. We're the
most patriotic. Are you ready? We make up twelve percent
of the population, forty percent of the military. Four zero
(03:46):
is a black and brown people. How dare you? We
went to the military and served our fathers, grandfathers, and
they was they had to there to fight in segregation
black troops over their white troops, over their fight for
the same country, and came back here and were treated
(04:08):
like dirt. It pains me when people try to use
patriotism as some sort of defense and like you can't
challenge it. Yes we can, and Drew Brees, you are wrong.
I don't want to hear it. Drew Breeses, Today is
(04:31):
exhibit a as what's wrong with this country. Talk about
what we're talking about. Listen to the plight that we
live every day. I have a great job, I'm educated.
I have those same fears that all the other black
guys have. Are being stopped by cops on the side
(04:52):
of the road at night, not knowing what's gonna happen
to me. These are real fears. Stop back like they aren't.
They are. And when you talk about one love for
love for one's country, to love one's country, that country
must love you back. All we want to do is
(05:15):
be treated equally and not have our lives snuffed out
because they don't matter. Stop with that. All lives matter.
That's not what we're talking about. We're losing way too
many unarmed black people for no reason. So I'm not
gonna accept it, and I'm gonna denounce anybody who tries
(05:36):
to use this as an excuse. It's lame, it's terrible.
It's not it's null and void. This time around. They
did it with Colin Kaepernick the first time four years ago.
He tried to warn us what was going on in
this world, and nobody wanted to listen. We're gonna listen
this time. I want everybody listen to the message. Listen
(06:00):
to the people that live in fear every day. They
ain't no hoax, real life. Fred Rogan, well, Rob, here's
the thing, and that was impassioned, and I think it
was well said. I actually also think it's a bit unrealistic.
It's a bit unrealistic, and I think Drew Brees those
(06:24):
comments just don't represent Drew Brees. They represent a good
number of people in this country. Now. If you look
at me, in full disclosure, Rob and I have been
friends for a while, and Rob does my TV show
in LA and he does our radio show as well,
and I'm thrilled that you invited me to sit in today.
Rob would be the first one to tell you that
(06:44):
I'm not black. I grew up in Detroit, I was
born in Detroit. But I'm not black. And I have
to tell you something. I have absolutely no idea, and
it would be disingenuous for me to claim I due
to tell you I know what it's like to be black.
I know how I feel, I know how I perceive people,
(07:08):
but I don't know. I don't know what it's like
to walk in your shoes. And anytime somebody, as Drew
Brees did, tries to change the narrative, or Grant Napier,
who lost his job as the play by play man
for the Sacramento Kings when he said all lives matter,
they do. All lives do matter, But we're not talking
about that here. We're talking about something entirely different. We're
(07:32):
talking about what it is like to be black in America,
and quite frankly, the majority of us don't know what
that's like. And until we can try as a group
to put ourselves in someone else's shoes. You talk about fear,
the fear is real, Rob. I only know my own fear.
(07:53):
I don't know the fear you live. I don't understand that.
So what is going on in our country right now?
After the murder that took place in Minneapolis, and that's
what it was, Fred, you saw it, We all saw Rob,
absolutely not even It was as heinous as anything anyone
had ever witnessed. And by the way, that goes on
(08:16):
all the time. It's just not always captured on camera.
There's a lot of things that have gone on in
our country for many years, long before everybody had a
cell phone. In Los Angeles, we show car chases all
the time. If there's a car chase, we put it
on TV and people go, oh, good God, I've never
seen anything like this before. Well, right, they were going
on long before we had live transmissions from the helicopter.
(08:39):
We just couldn't show it to you. And racial disparity
in this country has been going on forever. I grew
up in Detroit. I was in the riots in sixty seven.
I know what it's like. I lived through the Watts
riots of ninety two in Los Angeles. I know what
that's like. Or the Rodney King riots, I should say
in ninety two, I know what that's like. All people
(09:01):
are asking is to be heard. Listen to me, understand
where I'm coming from. If Drew Brees on this day
chooses to put the flag in or patriotism, he's missed
the point. When Colin Kaepernick took a knee and it
became you are disrespecting the United States of America. You
(09:25):
missed the point. That's not the point. But Rob, the
problem is, and you've lived it, so you know it.
When anyone has this uncomfortable conversation, all of the lines
quickly become blurred. Now there are different elements, we have
to consider different things, and the message is lost. I
(09:45):
believe in this case the message will not be lost,
but it's getting us a long time to get here.
And when you have Drew Brees saying that he just
toned deaf I mean, that's really what it is. He's
tone deaf. I have to tell you I would put
my hand over my heart for the national anthem. That's
(10:06):
not what we're talking about today. That is not And
then that's the point Fred, and that's why his teammates
are pushed back. He's gotten uprunt Fred that he was
supposed to be the next star on television on NBC. Yes,
I'm not so sure that's gonna happen unless there's some
other conversation that goes on from Drew Brees, because, as
(10:30):
you said, it's tone death. He's not listening. This is
not what this conversation. How many times did Colin Kaepernick
and people have to say, it's not about the flag.
How many rob forget that because the minute one person
said it was about the flag, it was about the
flag and it never was about that. And the saddest
(10:52):
part of all of this, no matter where you live
in the country and how you feel, you saw what
happened in Minneapolis, Drew Brees, like so many people, was
speaking off the cuff and didn't realize didn't understand he
said anything inflammatory. He didn't think he said anything wrong.
(11:14):
He was just talking about how he feels, and now
he has put himself in this position. The problem is
people aren't looking at this and understanding what it means.
His teammates announced him, they set out tweets. Lebron James
(11:34):
dennounced him today, he set out a tweet. So the
issue here not only for Drew Brees, but really for
everybody is to stay on point, walk in someone else's
shoes and understand what this is about. Because the majority
of people in this country, Rob Parker, don't understand what
(11:57):
it's like to walk in your shoes. It's really it
and that's why in the top of the show, you're yelling.
You're yelling like so many other people are yelling, and
all you're saying is listen to me. Be sure to
catch live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard
and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app Nate,
(12:20):
Welcome to The Odd Couple. Thank you, appreciate you having
me on. Yes and Nate is great to have you
one considering where we are in the country and what's
going on and they first, I just want you to
respond to the Drew Brees comments, He's got a lot
of pushback. People just feel like, you know, it's the
it's the same smoke screen narrative about the flag and
(12:42):
about kneeling. What did you think of his comments? Well,
you know, I mean, Drew Brees a good guy. Drew
Bree is a good person. Drew Brees has done a
lot for the community, a lot for the city in
New Orleans's great respect to the military, and has a
great respect for you know, for for his teammates as
far as I know, right, I mean it said, uh,
(13:05):
in this time, especially as as white as a white man. Um,
we would coming to a point where, you know, more
and more and not more than ever, we really need
to just to just listen, you know. And when somebody
asks us a question like that and it's maybe hoping
or exciting to get a sound you know, expecting to
(13:27):
get a sound bite or something to be able to
use and put out on the airwaves, and illicit responses
and continues to divide us like the media often does.
No offense. Um, you know that that was that was
an opportunity to to maybe go another way with it.
But you know, it's the way he feels. You know,
I respect his feelings on that, and I understand there's
(13:47):
a lot of people that I served within the military
that feel the same way. UM, But you know, it
also hurt a lot of people. It also upset a
lot of people, and it seemed a bit tone deaf
to a lot of people considering everything that's going on
this week, especially you know, and and to me at
the end of the day, UM being protesting during the
(14:09):
national anthem, during that song. During that time, UM was
always about how how much of a response we would
get people would get. Uh. Seeing that happen at that moment,
you know, less about the song itself, UM, less about
not about the military, you know, UM, because for me,
(14:32):
I get it. I stand with pride every time I
hear that song man, and I feel the same way
that Drew was talking about. I feel those same things.
But not everybody feels that. Not everybody feels that, and
it's not it's not their responsibility to just feel that,
because you know, we were in the military and we
fought for this country. So everybody needs to feel that
type of respect if they don't feel like they count
the same way. I would never want somebody stand and
(14:52):
putting their hand on their heart, saluting the flag out
of obligation. You know, that's not the kind of country
I want to live in. That's not what I fought for.
I want people to feel the same way that I do.
And if they don't, they got to fight until they do.
Nate Boyers well us, Rob Parker and Fred Rogan for
Chris Brussar today on The Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. Nate,
but here's the problem, and I think you just summed
(15:13):
it up. Things become so confused and convoluted when people
don't stay on point. I mean, this is a major
issue this country is dealing with right now, and there's
no unseeing what was seen, and this is a time
for people to be aware. And even a comment like
Drew Brees made, perhaps by pointing that out he becomes
(15:34):
more aware. Because Nate, that's been the problem. People just
aren't aware they have not walked in someone else's shoes. Yeah, No,
I mean, you're absolutely right. We it's you know, a
lot of things that are said and even in a
lot of honestly, even a lot of the I'm one
of these people that you're not posted posted a black
(15:55):
screen on my social media yesterday, and I know Drew
did too, and I know a lot of people did.
And I think a lot of people did that out
of obligation, you know what I mean, and did that
at a feeling like this sense of like, well I
did something. Now I'm you know, I did my part.
I'm supporting the cause. And it's like, do you even
really know what's happening and why this is happening beyond
just what we've seen this last week? You know, I'm
(16:17):
beyond just you know those names that are that are
commonly used, from the George Floyd to the Trader Martins
to the Sandra Blends to Attill to all these names, right,
it's so much more than that. It's so much more
than that. And it's not just police brutality. It's so
much more than that. And I'm trying to learn as
much as I can. You know, I still have a
long I still have a ton to learn too. I
(16:38):
absolutely not a subject matter of expert in anyway. Now
do you feel like, you know Colin was sitting and
if people remember how this thing release thought it, he
had sat on the bench during the national apt for
a couple of games until Steve weish. A reporter from
the NFL network noticed him and said, hey, what are
you doing, And that's how we even found out about
the police brutality protest. And then you told Colin it
(17:02):
would be better for him to kneel rather than sit.
And when you see all this pushback from people, you're
a veteran. You gave him some advice. He followed your
advice because he thought he's not here to disrespect the
military and he's listening to a military man. What do
you think about people who pushed back on him despite
him listening to a guy from the military. Yeah, well,
(17:25):
I think it's important for people to understand too, that
Colin reached out to me. Like, Colin called me and
asked if I would meet with him, and asked if
I would, you know, have a conversation with him. Wanted
to hear what I thought, what I felt, and you know,
he wanted to make sure that he wasn't offending people
in the military. And I told him, calling, no matter
what you do, you're gonna offend people. You can't do
anything in this world without without offending people. You're never
(17:48):
gonna please everybody. There's just there's just no way. And
he knew that. I think he knew that, but I said,
no matter what, you know, even if you stand with
your hand on your heart now, people are gonna be,
you know, offended. People that are proud of what you're
doing and speaking out on are going to say, well,
how come you're how come you're tucking your tail now
and moving away from it. So we sat down and
(18:11):
we talked. We had, you know, pretty in depth conversation
about everything going on and his feelings and my feelings
and his experiences and my experiences. And through that conversation,
he asked me if there was another way beside sitting
on the bench that I thought he could protest that
wouldn't offend people in the military. And like I said,
I said, there's no way you won't offend some people.
(18:32):
But I think if you if you're at least alongside
your teammates, that would be a big step and the
only way I can see doing that without standing. Because
he committed to not standing, people got to understand that
the only other way I could see you doing that
would be taken a knee. And I don't see that
as disrespectful. I don't speak for the military, and I I
don't speak for anybody but myself, but I think it
would be harder for people to find that disrespectful because
(18:52):
people taking need of prey to propose to their wives.
It's just never been a symbol of disrespect to my knowledge.
And he agreed, and he said that that would be
more powerful, and that's when he did that. That's the
very same night on the field in San Diego. What
did you think or how did you feel, Nate, when
you saw the backlash he received. I think I knew
(19:16):
he would receive it. I received it too, not nearly
at the level I'm sure Colin did, but I definitely
received it. Two from people I served with, I was
called various things, a disgrace to the Green Beret, you know.
Even today, I had somebody reach out from my unit
that's upset that I used the Special Forces motto sometimes
when I when I write things and when I say things,
and then the tomato is de oppressed olibert, which means
(19:39):
to free the oppressed. And they're upset about that. They're like,
you don't speak to the unit, and so like, I
get it, you know, and I'm sorry. I apologize to everybody. Now,
I'm not intending to hurt anybody in any way. But
I was surprised at the backlash. Now, knowing what I
know now three and a half years later, and just
what social media is and what it does to people
(20:00):
when it does who stand to our country, I'm not
surprised at all. You know, it's way less surprising now
because it's just it leads to so much. It's just
it's tough, man, Nate. Can we just can we acknowledge
as we saw the murder of George Floyd at the
hands of police on the streets of Minneapolis, can we
(20:24):
Colin what he was telling us and standing for was
right four years ago? He was sounding the alarm about
the epidemic going on in this country. And I don't
know how anybody can look at this anything differently. It
was never about him. I think it's more courageous nat
(20:47):
to protest, put yourself on the line when you're talking
about people you don't even know, and you're giving up
potentially your life, your good life, and your livelihood, and
people still don't get can't get that through their heads.
I don't understand it. But when you see where we are,
(21:10):
does it make sense what Colin was trying to do? Yeah,
I mean I don't understand it either, you know. And
it's not just things Colin have done. There's a lot
of people that have done a lot, risk a lot
out there, you know what I mean. And it's you
know a lot of people in the military risk quite
a bit. So like I get it, trust me. But
there's just certain people that are just you know, I
(21:30):
guess are just gonna never understand or you just gotta
keep trying. That's all I see it, man, Like, all
you can do is keep trying and keep fighting. It's
not you know, it's not simple to create great change.
It's not easy. It takes time. And you know, we
have a lot ingrained in our country that needs to
needs to change, it needs to move forward. It's going
to take a continued commitment by a lot of people,
(21:52):
you know, and not just shaking system point of fingers.
You know, a lot more than that. And there's a
ton of people doing that right now, you know, but
they don't Unfortunately, they don't get the microphone very often.
And you know, that's all we can do is I
continue to continue to move forward, continue to galvanize people
are changing. You know, it might take longer than people hope,
and there's there's a good population of people that are
listening that I'm listening before. Hey, Nate Boyer, our guest
(22:16):
on the Odd Couple, Thank you so much. Appreciate your insight,
your knowledge, everything. Thanks for your service to the country,
and we'll talk to you down the road. Thank you, Nate,
appreciate it. Say thank you. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within
the iHeartRadio app search f SR to listen live. Let's
(22:39):
dive into the Drew Brees controversy, which of course is
the big story, and to me it was just the same.
All talk about what we're talking about. You know, if
you're going to chime in and your Drew Brees, the
only thing I want to hear is you denounce racism,
(23:01):
police brutality. We just that's that's what I want to hear.
Let's take a listen to his comments first, Fred, and
then we'll talk. I will never agree with anybody disrespecting
the flag of the United States of America or our country.
Let me just tell you what I see or what
I feel when the national anthem is played and when
(23:21):
I look at the flag of the United States, I
envision my two grandfathers who fought for this country during
World War Two, one in the Army and one of
the Marine Corps, both risking their lives to protect our
country and to try to make our country and this
world a better place. Sorry, fright, we're not talking about
(23:44):
that today. We're talking about George Floyd and all the
other unarmed black men who have been killed by white
police in this country. And Fred, this wasn't just sportswriter
pushing back, or broadcasters or guys in their white ivory
(24:04):
towers picking on poor Drew Brees. His teammates didn't appreciate it.
And Malcolm Jenkins was not happy with Drew Brees, and
he had a message for him. We're done asking Drew,
and people who share your sentiments, who express those and
push them throughout the world. The airways are the problem.
(24:29):
And it's unfortunate because I considered you a friend. I
looked up to you. It's somebody who I had a
great deal of respect for. But sometimes you should shut
the up. I mean, you can't get any more real,
Fred in a situation than telling somebody to shut the
f up. No, especially if it's your teammate and your quarterback.
(24:51):
Drew Brees is guilty of two things here. Two things.
It's Drew Brees a racist, No, not a racist, but
he's guilty of tooth things. The first thing is not
staying on point the flag? What is the national anthem?
Didn't we go through that Colin four years ago for it?
(25:11):
Didn't they ask Colin what is this about? Right? He
told you what it was about, right, but you didn't
want to hear People didn't want to hear that. Rob
Some people heard it loud and clear, others social justice online.
He was attacked for it. The other thing Drew Brees
is guilty of here, it's just being tone deaf not
(25:32):
getting it. Now, that's something that a lot of people
in this country are guilty of. Their tone deaf. They
don't get it. And this is where I want to
get to you and ask, all right, this could have
ramifications huge for Drew Brees, not just getting a beating
(25:52):
on social media for a day or a couple of
days or whatever. It winds up being a that deal
with NBC to beat in x TV analyst for the
future that just took a big hit. Fred. You know
television as well as anybody right now. Drew Brees is toxic.
(26:12):
Number two. If you're a Saints fan, how in the
world does he lead that locker room the NFL seventy
percent block. If I'm a teammate, I don't know if
I could play for that guy or look at him
the same way. Fred, I don't know, well, And that's
I think that's the overriding issue now, because that's the
(26:34):
most current issue. The NBC deal Rob that's in place
when he retires, and some time will pass before he retires,
so you'll take the temperature of the country and then
you'll have a better idea. Will this have blown over?
Will he have apologized? Will things have changed so that
we can't talk about. But what we can talk about
(26:56):
is how our players going to react to him. You'll
remember the old Oakland A's, their clubhouse was toxic. Everybody
hated everybody. They all fought, but on the field they
fought together. But remember the issues in the A's clubhouse
were not over race. Now this, this comment and what's
going on is about race, and that's very different. You know,
(27:19):
I don't like the way you play, I don't like this,
I don't like that as one thing. When you talk race,
you cut to the core of someone. I think everybody
in that New Orleans locker room, and I'm sure Drew
Brees will address the team when they all get together.
I think we can put that on the checklist. He'll
address everybody and he'll say he misspoke or he'll explain himself.
(27:41):
Everybody in there will have no choice but to either
begrudgedly accept his apology or accept it because they all
have a job to do. But that's the kind of
thing and it might be wrong. That's the kind of
thing where people don't forget, you know, they don't forget
that kind of thing. You know what, Fred, You're spot on.
(28:04):
It's one thing to be like, Okay, it might never
be the same for Drew Brees and the way people
look at it because this cut black people deep. Fred
Thanks for listening to the best of the Odd Couple podcasts.
Be sure to catch us live every weekday from seven
pm to ten pm Eastern four to seven Pacific on
Fox Sports Radio. Find your local station for The Odd
Couple at Fox Sports Radio dot com, or stream us
live every day on the iHeartRadio app by searching fs R.
(00:22):
You're listening to the best of the Odd Couple with
Chris Brussa and Ron Harker. Give me a little elbow
room so we can get started. But I'm gonna tell
you the comments by Drew Brees really cut me deep today.
(00:42):
And first let's hear what he said. I will never
agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States
of America or our country. Let me just tell you
what I see or what I feel when the national
anthem is played, and when I look at the flag
of the United States, I envisioned my two grandfathers who
(01:02):
fought for this country during World War Two, one in
the Army and one of the Marine Corps, both risking
their lives to protect our country and to try to
make our country in this world a better place. No way, no, how,
Drew Brees, are we accepting that any longer. You are
(01:23):
not an ot going to change the narrative. This is
not about the flag. Stop it already with this nonsense.
Drew Brees is a part of the problem. Those comments
are disingenuous and wrong. That's what they are. Anyone, anyone listening,
(01:52):
if anyone brings up the flag, you should denounce them,
you should discount them, and you should discard them. It's
an excuse, that's all it is. Colin Kaepernick gets said
a million times, it's not about the flag. Why in
the world would that be your narrative, that be your
(02:16):
conversation After George Floyd was murdered at the hands of
a white policeman in full view, how dare you bring
up the military. It's about racial injustice, It's about police brutality.
That is going to be the conversation. You will not
(02:38):
take this from us. People have taken the streets. I
know he gave money and Drew Brees helping New Orleans
and I heard all those stories. I don't want to
hear him today. I want Drew Breese to denounce racism,
denounce social injustice, and talk about the issue at hand.
(03:02):
Stop it and this whole thing when people bring up
the military your patriotism. I'm sorry, it's not gonna hide
your racism. You can't use it. And let's talk about
(03:22):
the military. It's not This is only the military, and
being proud of the military is only a white thing. Patriotism.
People want to say black people are patriotic. We're the
most patriotic. Are you ready? We make up twelve percent
of the population, forty percent of the military. Four zero
(03:46):
is a black and brown people. How dare you? We
went to the military and served our fathers, grandfathers, and
they was they had to there to fight in segregation
black troops over their white troops, over their fight for
the same country, and came back here and were treated
(04:08):
like dirt. It pains me when people try to use
patriotism as some sort of defense and like you can't
challenge it. Yes we can, and Drew Brees, you are wrong.
I don't want to hear it. Drew Breeses, Today is
(04:31):
exhibit a as what's wrong with this country. Talk about
what we're talking about. Listen to the plight that we
live every day. I have a great job, I'm educated.
I have those same fears that all the other black
guys have. Are being stopped by cops on the side
(04:52):
of the road at night, not knowing what's gonna happen
to me. These are real fears. Stop back like they aren't.
They are. And when you talk about one love for
love for one's country, to love one's country, that country
must love you back. All we want to do is
(05:15):
be treated equally and not have our lives snuffed out
because they don't matter. Stop with that. All lives matter.
That's not what we're talking about. We're losing way too
many unarmed black people for no reason. So I'm not
gonna accept it, and I'm gonna denounce anybody who tries
(05:36):
to use this as an excuse. It's lame, it's terrible.
It's not it's null and void. This time around. They
did it with Colin Kaepernick the first time four years ago.
He tried to warn us what was going on in
this world, and nobody wanted to listen. We're gonna listen
this time. I want everybody listen to the message. Listen
(06:00):
to the people that live in fear every day. They
ain't no hoax, real life. Fred Rogan, well, Rob, here's
the thing, and that was impassioned, and I think it
was well said. I actually also think it's a bit unrealistic.
It's a bit unrealistic, and I think Drew Brees those
(06:24):
comments just don't represent Drew Brees. They represent a good
number of people in this country. Now. If you look
at me, in full disclosure, Rob and I have been
friends for a while, and Rob does my TV show
in LA and he does our radio show as well,
and I'm thrilled that you invited me to sit in today.
Rob would be the first one to tell you that
(06:44):
I'm not black. I grew up in Detroit, I was
born in Detroit. But I'm not black. And I have
to tell you something. I have absolutely no idea, and
it would be disingenuous for me to claim I due
to tell you I know what it's like to be black.
I know how I feel, I know how I perceive people,
(07:08):
but I don't know. I don't know what it's like
to walk in your shoes. And anytime somebody, as Drew
Brees did, tries to change the narrative, or Grant Napier,
who lost his job as the play by play man
for the Sacramento Kings when he said all lives matter,
they do. All lives do matter, But we're not talking
about that here. We're talking about something entirely different. We're
(07:32):
talking about what it is like to be black in America,
and quite frankly, the majority of us don't know what
that's like. And until we can try as a group
to put ourselves in someone else's shoes. You talk about fear,
the fear is real, Rob. I only know my own fear.
(07:53):
I don't know the fear you live. I don't understand that.
So what is going on in our country right now?
After the murder that took place in Minneapolis, and that's
what it was, Fred, you saw it, We all saw Rob,
absolutely not even It was as heinous as anything anyone
had ever witnessed. And by the way, that goes on
(08:16):
all the time. It's just not always captured on camera.
There's a lot of things that have gone on in
our country for many years, long before everybody had a
cell phone. In Los Angeles, we show car chases all
the time. If there's a car chase, we put it
on TV and people go, oh, good God, I've never
seen anything like this before. Well, right, they were going
on long before we had live transmissions from the helicopter.
(08:39):
We just couldn't show it to you. And racial disparity
in this country has been going on forever. I grew
up in Detroit. I was in the riots in sixty seven.
I know what it's like. I lived through the Watts
riots of ninety two in Los Angeles. I know what
that's like. Or the Rodney King riots, I should say
in ninety two, I know what that's like. All people
(09:01):
are asking is to be heard. Listen to me, understand
where I'm coming from. If Drew Brees on this day
chooses to put the flag in or patriotism, he's missed
the point. When Colin Kaepernick took a knee and it
became you are disrespecting the United States of America. You
(09:25):
missed the point. That's not the point. But Rob, the
problem is, and you've lived it, so you know it.
When anyone has this uncomfortable conversation, all of the lines
quickly become blurred. Now there are different elements, we have
to consider different things, and the message is lost. I
(09:45):
believe in this case the message will not be lost,
but it's getting us a long time to get here.
And when you have Drew Brees saying that he just
toned deaf I mean, that's really what it is. He's
tone deaf. I have to tell you I would put
my hand over my heart for the national anthem. That's
(10:06):
not what we're talking about today. That is not And
then that's the point Fred, and that's why his teammates
are pushed back. He's gotten uprunt Fred that he was
supposed to be the next star on television on NBC. Yes,
I'm not so sure that's gonna happen unless there's some
other conversation that goes on from Drew Brees, because, as
(10:30):
you said, it's tone death. He's not listening. This is
not what this conversation. How many times did Colin Kaepernick
and people have to say, it's not about the flag.
How many rob forget that because the minute one person
said it was about the flag, it was about the
flag and it never was about that. And the saddest
(10:52):
part of all of this, no matter where you live
in the country and how you feel, you saw what
happened in Minneapolis, Drew Brees, like so many people, was
speaking off the cuff and didn't realize didn't understand he
said anything inflammatory. He didn't think he said anything wrong.
(11:14):
He was just talking about how he feels, and now
he has put himself in this position. The problem is
people aren't looking at this and understanding what it means.
His teammates announced him, they set out tweets. Lebron James
(11:34):
dennounced him today, he set out a tweet. So the
issue here not only for Drew Brees, but really for
everybody is to stay on point, walk in someone else's
shoes and understand what this is about. Because the majority
of people in this country, Rob Parker, don't understand what
(11:57):
it's like to walk in your shoes. It's really it
and that's why in the top of the show, you're yelling.
You're yelling like so many other people are yelling, and
all you're saying is listen to me. Be sure to
catch live editions of The Odd Couple with Chris Broussard
and Rob Parker weekdays at seven pm Eastern four pm
Pacific on Fox Sports Radio and the iHeartRadio app Nate,
(12:20):
Welcome to The Odd Couple. Thank you, appreciate you having
me on. Yes and Nate is great to have you
one considering where we are in the country and what's
going on and they first, I just want you to
respond to the Drew Brees comments, He's got a lot
of pushback. People just feel like, you know, it's the
it's the same smoke screen narrative about the flag and
(12:42):
about kneeling. What did you think of his comments? Well,
you know, I mean, Drew Brees a good guy. Drew
Bree is a good person. Drew Brees has done a
lot for the community, a lot for the city in
New Orleans's great respect to the military, and has a
great respect for you know, for for his teammates as
far as I know, right, I mean it said, uh,
(13:05):
in this time, especially as as white as a white man. Um,
we would coming to a point where, you know, more
and more and not more than ever, we really need
to just to just listen, you know. And when somebody
asks us a question like that and it's maybe hoping
or exciting to get a sound you know, expecting to
(13:27):
get a sound bite or something to be able to
use and put out on the airwaves, and illicit responses
and continues to divide us like the media often does.
No offense. Um, you know that that was that was
an opportunity to to maybe go another way with it.
But you know, it's the way he feels. You know,
I respect his feelings on that, and I understand there's
(13:47):
a lot of people that I served within the military
that feel the same way. UM, But you know, it
also hurt a lot of people. It also upset a
lot of people, and it seemed a bit tone deaf
to a lot of people considering everything that's going on
this week, especially you know, and and to me at
the end of the day, UM being protesting during the
(14:09):
national anthem, during that song. During that time, UM was
always about how how much of a response we would
get people would get. Uh. Seeing that happen at that moment,
you know, less about the song itself, UM, less about
not about the military, you know, UM, because for me,
(14:32):
I get it. I stand with pride every time I
hear that song man, and I feel the same way
that Drew was talking about. I feel those same things.
But not everybody feels that. Not everybody feels that, and
it's not it's not their responsibility to just feel that,
because you know, we were in the military and we
fought for this country. So everybody needs to feel that
type of respect if they don't feel like they count
the same way. I would never want somebody stand and
(14:52):
putting their hand on their heart, saluting the flag out
of obligation. You know, that's not the kind of country
I want to live in. That's not what I fought for.
I want people to feel the same way that I do.
And if they don't, they got to fight until they do.
Nate Boyers well us, Rob Parker and Fred Rogan for
Chris Brussar today on The Odd Couple on Fox Sports Radio. Nate,
but here's the problem, and I think you just summed
(15:13):
it up. Things become so confused and convoluted when people
don't stay on point. I mean, this is a major
issue this country is dealing with right now, and there's
no unseeing what was seen, and this is a time
for people to be aware. And even a comment like
Drew Brees made, perhaps by pointing that out he becomes
(15:34):
more aware. Because Nate, that's been the problem. People just
aren't aware they have not walked in someone else's shoes. Yeah, No,
I mean, you're absolutely right. We it's you know, a
lot of things that are said and even in a
lot of honestly, even a lot of the I'm one
of these people that you're not posted posted a black
(15:55):
screen on my social media yesterday, and I know Drew
did too, and I know a lot of people did.
And I think a lot of people did that out
of obligation, you know what I mean, and did that
at a feeling like this sense of like, well I
did something. Now I'm you know, I did my part.
I'm supporting the cause. And it's like, do you even
really know what's happening and why this is happening beyond
just what we've seen this last week? You know, I'm
(16:17):
beyond just you know those names that are that are
commonly used, from the George Floyd to the Trader Martins
to the Sandra Blends to Attill to all these names, right,
it's so much more than that. It's so much more
than that. And it's not just police brutality. It's so
much more than that. And I'm trying to learn as
much as I can. You know, I still have a
long I still have a ton to learn too. I
(16:38):
absolutely not a subject matter of expert in anyway. Now
do you feel like, you know Colin was sitting and
if people remember how this thing release thought it, he
had sat on the bench during the national apt for
a couple of games until Steve weish. A reporter from
the NFL network noticed him and said, hey, what are
you doing, And that's how we even found out about
the police brutality protest. And then you told Colin it
(17:02):
would be better for him to kneel rather than sit.
And when you see all this pushback from people, you're
a veteran. You gave him some advice. He followed your
advice because he thought he's not here to disrespect the
military and he's listening to a military man. What do
you think about people who pushed back on him despite
him listening to a guy from the military. Yeah, well,
(17:25):
I think it's important for people to understand too, that
Colin reached out to me. Like, Colin called me and
asked if I would meet with him, and asked if
I would, you know, have a conversation with him. Wanted
to hear what I thought, what I felt, and you know,
he wanted to make sure that he wasn't offending people
in the military. And I told him, calling, no matter
what you do, you're gonna offend people. You can't do
anything in this world without without offending people. You're never
(17:48):
gonna please everybody. There's just there's just no way. And
he knew that. I think he knew that, but I said,
no matter what, you know, even if you stand with
your hand on your heart now, people are gonna be,
you know, offended. People that are proud of what you're
doing and speaking out on are going to say, well,
how come you're how come you're tucking your tail now
and moving away from it. So we sat down and
(18:11):
we talked. We had, you know, pretty in depth conversation
about everything going on and his feelings and my feelings
and his experiences and my experiences. And through that conversation,
he asked me if there was another way beside sitting
on the bench that I thought he could protest that
wouldn't offend people in the military. And like I said,
I said, there's no way you won't offend some people.
(18:32):
But I think if you if you're at least alongside
your teammates, that would be a big step and the
only way I can see doing that without standing. Because
he committed to not standing, people got to understand that
the only other way I could see you doing that
would be taken a knee. And I don't see that
as disrespectful. I don't speak for the military, and I I
don't speak for anybody but myself, but I think it
would be harder for people to find that disrespectful because
(18:52):
people taking need of prey to propose to their wives.
It's just never been a symbol of disrespect to my knowledge.
And he agreed, and he said that that would be
more powerful, and that's when he did that. That's the
very same night on the field in San Diego. What
did you think or how did you feel, Nate, when
you saw the backlash he received. I think I knew
(19:16):
he would receive it. I received it too, not nearly
at the level I'm sure Colin did, but I definitely
received it. Two from people I served with, I was
called various things, a disgrace to the Green Beret, you know.
Even today, I had somebody reach out from my unit
that's upset that I used the Special Forces motto sometimes
when I when I write things and when I say things,
and then the tomato is de oppressed olibert, which means
(19:39):
to free the oppressed. And they're upset about that. They're like,
you don't speak to the unit, and so like, I
get it, you know, and I'm sorry. I apologize to everybody. Now,
I'm not intending to hurt anybody in any way. But
I was surprised at the backlash. Now, knowing what I
know now three and a half years later, and just
what social media is and what it does to people
(20:00):
when it does who stand to our country, I'm not
surprised at all. You know, it's way less surprising now
because it's just it leads to so much. It's just
it's tough, man, Nate. Can we just can we acknowledge
as we saw the murder of George Floyd at the
hands of police on the streets of Minneapolis, can we
(20:24):
Colin what he was telling us and standing for was
right four years ago? He was sounding the alarm about
the epidemic going on in this country. And I don't
know how anybody can look at this anything differently. It
was never about him. I think it's more courageous nat
(20:47):
to protest, put yourself on the line when you're talking
about people you don't even know, and you're giving up
potentially your life, your good life, and your livelihood, and
people still don't get can't get that through their heads.
I don't understand it. But when you see where we are,
(21:10):
does it make sense what Colin was trying to do? Yeah,
I mean I don't understand it either, you know. And
it's not just things Colin have done. There's a lot
of people that have done a lot, risk a lot
out there, you know what I mean. And it's you
know a lot of people in the military risk quite
a bit. So like I get it, trust me. But
there's just certain people that are just you know, I
(21:30):
guess are just gonna never understand or you just gotta
keep trying. That's all I see it, man, Like, all
you can do is keep trying and keep fighting. It's
not you know, it's not simple to create great change.
It's not easy. It takes time. And you know, we
have a lot ingrained in our country that needs to
needs to change, it needs to move forward. It's going
to take a continued commitment by a lot of people,
(21:52):
you know, and not just shaking system point of fingers.
You know, a lot more than that. And there's a
ton of people doing that right now, you know, but
they don't Unfortunately, they don't get the microphone very often.
And you know, that's all we can do is I
continue to continue to move forward, continue to galvanize people
are changing. You know, it might take longer than people hope,
and there's there's a good population of people that are
listening that I'm listening before. Hey, Nate Boyer, our guest
(22:16):
on the Odd Couple, Thank you so much. Appreciate your insight,
your knowledge, everything. Thanks for your service to the country,
and we'll talk to you down the road. Thank you, Nate,
appreciate it. Say thank you. Fox Sports Radio has the
best sports talk lineup in the nation. Catch all of
our shows at Fox Sports Radio dot com and within
the iHeartRadio app search f SR to listen live. Let's
(22:39):
dive into the Drew Brees controversy, which of course is
the big story, and to me it was just the same.
All talk about what we're talking about. You know, if
you're going to chime in and your Drew Brees, the
only thing I want to hear is you denounce racism,
(23:01):
police brutality. We just that's that's what I want to hear.
Let's take a listen to his comments first, Fred, and
then we'll talk. I will never agree with anybody disrespecting
the flag of the United States of America or our country.
Let me just tell you what I see or what
I feel when the national anthem is played and when
(23:21):
I look at the flag of the United States, I
envision my two grandfathers who fought for this country during
World War Two, one in the Army and one of
the Marine Corps, both risking their lives to protect our
country and to try to make our country and this
world a better place. Sorry, fright, we're not talking about
(23:44):
that today. We're talking about George Floyd and all the
other unarmed black men who have been killed by white
police in this country. And Fred, this wasn't just sportswriter
pushing back, or broadcasters or guys in their white ivory
(24:04):
towers picking on poor Drew Brees. His teammates didn't appreciate it.
And Malcolm Jenkins was not happy with Drew Brees, and
he had a message for him. We're done asking Drew,
and people who share your sentiments, who express those and
push them throughout the world. The airways are the problem.
(24:29):
And it's unfortunate because I considered you a friend. I
looked up to you. It's somebody who I had a
great deal of respect for. But sometimes you should shut
the up. I mean, you can't get any more real,
Fred in a situation than telling somebody to shut the
f up. No, especially if it's your teammate and your quarterback.
(24:51):
Drew Brees is guilty of two things here. Two things.
It's Drew Brees a racist, No, not a racist, but
he's guilty of tooth things. The first thing is not
staying on point the flag? What is the national anthem?
Didn't we go through that Colin four years ago for it?
(25:11):
Didn't they ask Colin what is this about? Right? He
told you what it was about, right, but you didn't
want to hear People didn't want to hear that. Rob
Some people heard it loud and clear, others social justice online.
He was attacked for it. The other thing Drew Brees
is guilty of here, it's just being tone deaf not
(25:32):
getting it. Now, that's something that a lot of people
in this country are guilty of. Their tone deaf. They
don't get it. And this is where I want to
get to you and ask, all right, this could have
ramifications huge for Drew Brees, not just getting a beating
(25:52):
on social media for a day or a couple of
days or whatever. It winds up being a that deal
with NBC to beat in x TV analyst for the
future that just took a big hit. Fred. You know
television as well as anybody right now. Drew Brees is toxic.
(26:12):
Number two. If you're a Saints fan, how in the
world does he lead that locker room the NFL seventy
percent block. If I'm a teammate, I don't know if
I could play for that guy or look at him
the same way. Fred, I don't know, well, And that's
I think that's the overriding issue now, because that's the
(26:34):
most current issue. The NBC deal Rob that's in place
when he retires, and some time will pass before he retires,
so you'll take the temperature of the country and then
you'll have a better idea. Will this have blown over?
Will he have apologized? Will things have changed so that
we can't talk about. But what we can talk about
(26:56):
is how our players going to react to him. You'll
remember the old Oakland A's, their clubhouse was toxic. Everybody
hated everybody. They all fought, but on the field they
fought together. But remember the issues in the A's clubhouse
were not over race. Now this, this comment and what's
going on is about race, and that's very different. You know,
(27:19):
I don't like the way you play, I don't like this,
I don't like that as one thing. When you talk race,
you cut to the core of someone. I think everybody
in that New Orleans locker room, and I'm sure Drew
Brees will address the team when they all get together.
I think we can put that on the checklist. He'll
address everybody and he'll say he misspoke or he'll explain himself.
(27:41):
Everybody in there will have no choice but to either
begrudgedly accept his apology or accept it because they all
have a job to do. But that's the kind of
thing and it might be wrong. That's the kind of
thing where people don't forget, you know, they don't forget
that kind of thing. You know what, Fred, You're spot on.
(28:04):
It's one thing to be like, Okay, it might never
be the same for Drew Brees and the way people
look at it because this cut black people deep. Fred
Hosts And Creators
kelvin washington
Rob Parker
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