Ex-NFL player from Texas working in Trump White House: Anthem is not a time for players to kneel

WASHINGTON — A top Texan in President Donald Trump’s White House said Thursday that it is a “sign of strength and solidarity” when NFL players stand, as opposed to take a knee, when the national anthem is played before games.

Scott Turner, a former NFL player and GOP state lawmaker, said it’s a “time to stand up for what you believe.”

“On any job in America, I believe you don’t have the opportunity to kneel when you go to work,” he said in an interview on Fox & Friends. “As NFL players, we play in the NFL. That’s our sport, that’s our job, that’s a time to stand.”

Turner, among the highest-ranking African Americans in the White House, opined on the anthem protests after New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees on Wednesday addressed the prospect of further player demonstrations amid a new wave of civil unrest.

The star quarterback, citing his grandfathers’ service in World War II, said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America."

Brees’ comments drew backlash from many fellow athletes, including some of his teammates, who said anthem protests led by Colin Kaepernick and other players were against just the kind of police brutality faced by George Floyd, a black man who died recently while in custody.

“You literally still don’t understand why Kap was kneeling on one knee??” NBA star LeBron James, who is black, wrote on Twitter. “Has absolute nothing to do with the disrespect of [the American flag] and our soldiers (men and women) who keep our land free.”

Brees, who is white, apologized on Thursday.

“In an attempt to talk about respect, unity, and solidarity centered around the American flag and the national anthem, I made comments that were insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country,” he said.

The exchange signals that the anthem protests, which roiled sports and politics in recent years, could again take center stage when sports seasons resume after a coronavirus-related pause.

Fort Worth Rep. Marc Veasey, a Democrat who is black, wrote on Twitter before Brees’ apology that the quarterback “sounded so uninformed.” He added that “black grandfathers also came back from WWII and were treated worse than German POW’s.”

“You should rethink what is and isn’t ‘patriotic,’” he wrote.

But U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a Republican who is part-Cuban, took to Twitter to say that Brees’ apology was “sadly predictable.”

“Pro sports have become PC speech police, terrified of offending the angry Left,” he wrote. “Words you can no longer say in today’s NFL: ‘I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America....’”

Turner, who was interviewed before Brees made public his apology, defended the quarterback. He explained that “when the national anthem is played, there’s many things, many emotions that are going on in the minds, the hearts and lives of Americans.”

The former NFLer, who played high school football at Richardson Pearce, added that he believes “all the players are respectful of the military and the anthem and our country.”

But “it is a sign of strength and solidarity when the players stand together,” said Turner, who leads the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council. “This is a time when we could show that we know that everything in our country is not perfect.”

Turner, who represented parts of Collin County in the Legislature, also addressed Floyd’s death, which has resulted in protests in cities across the U.S. He said everyone needs to “understand the gravity and the situation that we have at hand.”

“Everyone needs to be held accountable for this horrific death of Mr. Floyd so that people in America will know that they can trust the justice system and that everyone, no matter the color, your ethnicity or your creed, will be safe,” he said.

Turner said he trusts the justice system. But he added that improvements can and should be made.

“Has the justice system done, in my opinion, everything that it can do historically? The answer is no,” he said. “But it’s the system that we have.”