WATT: One of American football's biggest stars has now apologized for controversial comments he made about demonstrations against racism in the U.S. New Orleans Saints quarterback, Drew Brees, said on Monday it is always disrespectful for players to kneel during the national anthem to protest police brutality. Our Patrick Snell has more on the apology and how Brees's teammates are reacting.</s>PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS (voice-over): Drew Brees is a very popular figure in American sport, but his comments during an interview with Yahoo! Finance on Wednesday had fans, fellow athletes, and even his own teammates in an uproar. Early Thursday morning, Brees taken to Instagram to apologize. He said, "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. They lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy." Brees added that he needed to do less talking and more listening. Meantime, wide receiver Michael Thomas was one of the first Saints players to criticize Brees's comments. After the apology, Thomas tweeted, "He apologized and I accepted it, because that's what we were taught to do as Christians. Now, back to the movement. #GeorgeFloyd." Fellow teammate Demario Davis said the apology showed true leadership.</s>DEMARIO DAVIS, NEW ORLEANS SAINTS PLAYER: He admitted he missed the mark. So for him to come out and say, You know, I missed the mark, I've been insensitive, but what I'm going to start doing is listening and learning from the black community and finding ways that I can help them, I think that's a model for all of America. Because historically, in general, most of America has missed the mark.</s>SNELL (on camera): And the question now is how many players will feel empowered to defy a league ban and kneel during the anthem when the NFL season starts this fall? Patrick Snell, CNN, Atlanta.</s>WATT: Thanks for joining us. I'm Nick Watt. I'll be back with much more live news right after this.
NFL's Drew Brees Apologizes for 'Insensitive' Comments.