First Call: Will NBC dump Drew Brees? Or maybe vise versa? - TribLIVE

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Drew Brees just got a valuable lesson in his new career.

Before his first career even ended.

The New Orleans Saints quarterback is reportedly slated to become an NFL analyst with NBC when he retires. It’s presumed Brees will be hanging up his cleats after the upcoming season.

After what happened last week, though, I have to wonder if Brees is going to want that job.

Or if NBC is going to want to keep him.

Back in 2016, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem to protest police mistreatment of African American citizens. Over time, many players followed him.

On Wednesday, Brees told Yahoo Finance that he wouldn’t support players kneeling during the national anthem if such a movement returns. Such protests are expected following waves of nationwide outcry in the aftermath of George Floyd’s recent death at the hands of a police officer in Minnesota.

“I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees said. “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.”

That’s a far cry from Brees saying he disagrees with the protests we’ve seen across the country over the past week. It’s responding to a question about something that hasn’t happened yet.

Furthermore, simply advancing that statement from Brees without pointing out he aligned himself with the social media “black out” movement last Tuesday and posted support for the cause of racial unity is grossly imbalanced.

But Brees — who has largely been known for positive off-field headlines as opposed to negative ones — just got a healthy dose of what happens when Twitter informs you that you have said the wrong thing at the wrong time.

And on live television, that can happen a lot, no matter how careful you are. Or how talented you may be.

The lessons Brees learned were that no matter what you meant to say — or what you have said in the past — if you didn’t say what the social media world deems to be exactly the right message in exactly the right way, you are going to be castigated for it.

I’m sure that’s part of the reason why Peyton Manning has been so loath to jump into a live commentating gig, despite offers of mad money to do so.

From Manning’s perspective, when you do have to voice an opinion that may not be popular, you have to express it and deal with the fallout. Or you have to choke back what you really think.

I get it. Why bother? Keep doing the “Peyton’s Places” stuff and be happy with it. That’s safe. You’re rich. In today’s “cancel culture,” a lot of broadcasters have taken a lot of heat for matters far less touchy than this subject.

I have to assume that thought is rattling through Brees’ mind right now.

And from NBC’s point of view, might they be suddenly concerned that the normally middle-of-the-road Brees is going to become too divisive for their network?

In the wake of his remarks, Brees was assailed by current teammates, past teammates, and sports stars from other the leagues.

It took two apologies from Brees and a bailout soundbite of support from former NFL coach and future NBC teammate Tony Dungy before some of his Saints teammates walked back their criticism of their quarterback.

President Donald Trump’s attempt to co-opt the controversy and Brees’ subsequent refusal to be part of the leverage game probably helped mend some fences with those who felt offended as well.

But any time a subject of this ilk comes up again and Brees has an open mic on his lapel, his response will be jaundiced in the eyes of many viewers.

No matter how carefully Brees tries to word his opinions.

Or what if, God forbid, Brees just speaks his mind and expresses his thoughts without couching them for fear of how NBC may react to Twitter fallout.

After all, the media used to be a place for a free exchange of ideas or points of view. Not a pool to sanitize all thoughts in an effort to just give everybody what they wanted to hear all along.

Based on the current tone of the day.

“What is good about what’s happening is that it sparks more awareness. That’s what needs to happen in this world,” Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey said during an interview Thursday on 93.7 The Fan. “Everybody has a right to their opinion. You can be opinionated on anything you want to.”

Cheers to that comment. And I’d hope Brees and NBC would heed that sentiment.

But if either side ends this experiment before it begins, I’d understand why.

Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via Twitter. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.

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