“Oh, Drew. Why, Oh fucking why? I speak for myself and no one else but, godammit Drew: I am old and beat down but there beats in my chest still the heart of a 10-year-old boy who loves sports and nostalgia and heroes and I get goosebumps when I walk through a stadium tunnel and see for the first time the green field below and my eyes go wide as saucers and the roar of the crowd washes over me and I cry when the National Anthem comes on and I have been in that number that cheers you, loves you -- truly, madly, deeply.
And I'm not saying politics has no place in sports, nor that sports no place in politics. It's all an open marketplace of ideas, platforms for social change, education, enlightenment, progress. At its best, sports is healing, a unifier, a community, as we all witnessed after Katrina.
But I am lamenting more than I can even articulate how down right surprising, shameless and shitty is your endorsement of the mission of Focus on the Family, one of the most hateful, prejudiced, divisive, repugnant organizations in our country.
Maybe you weren't aware of their agenda: Convert, ban, deport or imprison the gays. Not much in their platform about climate change, health care, economic equality, international diplomacy or even shortening the NFL preseason. It's just about hate. And you signed on And that sucks.
Actually, it hurts. Because somewhere in the dregs of my sorry soul there is that little boy who looks at guys like you as heroes.
Maybe you didn't know what you were getting into. Maybe you have your own blithe and naïve streak of We Are The World in you. Maybe you didn't realize that when you became a spokesman for Focus on the Family, you became a free agent for hate, prejudice and division.
Drew, I hope none of your kids are gay. Because you just endorsed the worst thing that could happen to them. An organization that will stop at nothing to humiliate, degrade and disregard them. In the name of Jesus. And Drew Brees,
Look, man, I got no brook with bringing Bibles to school Do it every day. Like weed and weapons -- just keep them in your back pack and don't use them to intimidate, frighten, delegitimize, alienate or lord over (pun intended) other classmates.
Unless that is, of course, you're cool with the other students insisting that your kids take some time to read the Torah, the Qoran or Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. Although, actually, that would be cool. Imagine children with open minds discovering the infinite fields of thought, exploring the vistas of the intellect and imagination.
Or imagine a hateful self-proclaimed "Christian" movement to eradicate the perceived heathens in their midst; Jews, Muslims, Hindus, gays, lesbians, trans....and the still undecided among their ranks.
Since you have made your statement, I will make mine: Using your celebrity, fame and standing in this community to endorse the agenda of Focus on the Family is a slap in the face, a poke in the eye and a kick in the balls of anyone who believes in tolerance, unity, community, science, love and freedom.
It sucks to see this. Just fucking sucks. I don't have a lot of sports heroes who are younger than me. Cal Ripken Jr., Simone Biles. Serena Williams, Colin Kaepernick and you, to name a few. But I am unsure now.
I've done my own wrongs -- too many to recount here. I've stumbled, fallen, made mistakes that rive my soul and pound my skull at night. I'm a flat-out colossal fuck up. I've hurt people. A lot of them. But I can say this with dignity: It was never in the name of hate.
I've got my own work to do, my amends to make. But I welcome into my community and my life anyone with honest beliefs, good intentions, a kind heart and a willing to listen, understand and tolerate.
On a final note, I would be remiss if I didn't thank you for building a football field and installing lights at my kids' high school. And for the so many boosts and joys you have given this community. But when you align yourself with the entrenched and bitter haters, the accusers, the science deniers, the willfully ignorant, the prejudiced, the judgmental, the divisive, the hypocritical and the persecutors, well.....you acted upon your own beliefs.
I suppose. I can respect that.
But not you. Not now. But go Saints still, now, forever. Because I'm still that stupid little kid who loves the love of the game and Sundays in the fall and inevitable heartbreak that it means to be a member of the Who Dat Nation.” - Chris Rose
September 4, 2019
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