Giants Safety Peppers, Jets Safety Adams Speak Out Against Brees' Apology

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One day after his comments on players taking a knee during the national anthem in regards to racial justice and police brutality set off a wave of criticism, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees took to Instagram to apologize.

In the apology, Brees began by saying, "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."

He then clarified that he stands with the black community in the fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality and supports "real policy change" that will make a difference. He finished by saying that he recognizes he should do less talking and more listening and asked for forgiveness.

His teammate, former Jets linebacker Demario Davis, said Thursday that Brees' apology showed real leadership. And he told CBS 2's Otis Livingston that rather than getting wrapped up in what Brees said, everyone needs to focus on the bigger picture.

"The thing we can do is honor those families by fixing the system. Then their lives stand for something," said Davis. "That's where we need to keep our attention. We don't need to focus on anybody's statements or divert our attention to anything else. All of our attenton united needs to be around the issue, fixing the issue."

While Davis and many of Brees' other teammates were forgiving, other players were not in such a mood. New York Giants safety Jabrill Peppers was having none of it.

Neither was New York Jets safety Jamal Adams, who called out not only Brees, but Buffalo Bills rookie Jake Fromm, whose text messages saying only "elite white people" should buy guns surfaced Thursday.

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