Malik Jackson is going against the grain in the NFL. While most other players in the league seem to be willing to move on from Drew Brees ‘ comments about kneeling during the national anthem, Jackson told 6ABC ‘s Jeff Skervsky in a Sunday interview on Facebook he’s not turning the other cheek.
“Definitely excited to play him this year,” Jackson said. “I’m going to have a lot to say. Hopefully, I don’t get too wild with it, but I don’t understand how you could say that when you have people blocking for you who are black, catching balls from you who are black and people that are running the ball for you who are black.”
Jackson continued talking about how much he looked forward to squaring off against Brees. He also discussed other white players in the NFL, saying he thought there were others who were racist as well.
His comments came just a few days after Brees caused an uproar with his comments about the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests. Appearing on Yahoo Finance, Brees was asked if he regretted not being more supportive of the kind of protests Colin Kaepernick staged when he was still in the NFL. Brees responded he still couldn’t support kneeling during the National Anthem. The quarterback added it was an insult to his family members, who fought in several major wars.
His response caused several NFL players, including some of his teammates, to voice their displeasure on social media. The backlash was so severe, the Saints QB issued an apology on his Instagram page. Those comments drew a rebuke from President Donald Trump. When Trump tweeted out that Brees shouldn’t have apologized, the quarterback sent another social media post explaining why he apologized and stating he understood people couldn’t use the flag to “ distract ” from the real issue.
On Sunday, Brees’ wife, Brittany Brees, said the pair were still learning, but she believed they understood why the protests had broken out all over the country and why people were taking a knee during the National Anthem.
Despite those many social media posts and apologies, Jackson isn’t ready to forgive and forget. In the interview with Skervsky, he told the journalist he was looking forward to facing off against the Saints’ quarterback.
Jackson is entering his second season with the Philadelphia Eagles and his ninth overall in the NFL. The Eagles are set to square off against the Saints in week 14 of the 2020 NFL season.