Okay, guys, The weak Side Podcast back for our second episode this week alongside Jenny Frentis, I'm connor Or and UM, we're gonna talk a little bit about football today. UM. You know, there's some news coming up with training camps and where the league kind of visions everything going. But I think we're gonna start a little bit around where we ended last week, and that's just wondering where teams go from here. UM. I think that there's a sentiment from everybody around the league that this moment right now UM is certainly building off of the energy, the UM focus that Colin Kaepernick brought into the equation four years ago. But the difference I think is that many more players are speaking out about it, UM coaches are speaking out about it UM now, whether they it's because they feel forced to speak out about it or they're trying to follow in the footstep of other coaches who spoke out about it first. UM that said, you know, we have a situation where, you know, even Matt Patricia of the Lions said, we're going to start talking about football when only when everybody in the locker room is ready to start talking about football. UM. And it presents a unique set of circumstances. I think for coaches who are not adequately um equipped to handle situations like this. We've seen it time and time again where it's a deer in headlights when stuff like this comes up. But um, it brings up an interesting question, Jenny, which is where does everybody go from here? Where do players go from here? Where do coaches go from here? Where does owners, general, managers, the league office? Where does everybody go from here? Now, um that it seems like, uh, the state of play has come into a much clearer focus than it has in in days, months, weeks past. Yeah. Absolutely. We saw Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks say what actual ups is the league going to take to support the fight for justice and systemic reform, basically saying that the league's statement said nothing. The league is built on black athletes, So you know, they can bring people into teach us how we should interact with police, he said, but not make not work towards changing the behavior of the police themselves. Silence will not make this go away. So I think we're seeing now the shift is like, what are you actually going to do? The statements, some of them have been strong, some of them have been inadequate. UM. And I think how teams follow through really matters, especially when you see a lot of owners who have publicly supported the president and to have thrown their money into uh causes that are antisocial justice and have you know, downstream connotations. Right, So, how are teams going to kind of take actions to flip things around and to recommit their their their selves in a different way and not just throw money at the problem? Right? And money is important, but I think there's a lot of other actions that teams are gonna do. You know, I saw Kevin Warren, who's the first black commissioner of a Power five conference Big ten created an anti hate and anti racism coalition. Um. You know, University of Minnesota is not contracting with the Minneapolis Police Department, but that includes security for sports events, Like would teams follow suits? Um? Not related to the NFL, but I was thinking a lot. You know, with the Olympics coming up, they've banned kneeling in so called political acts. You know, would we see changes in that? So? I think, Uh, the last week, we've seen people more willing to speak up. But what matters the most is how they turn words into action and will they follow through on some of the things that they claim to value and want to emphasize moving forward. You brought up political money, which I think is really interesting. UM right after the Steen election, right before the midterm elections. Sorry, UM, I went through every UM owner or anyone kind of associated with the ownership group of a team in the NFL, every head coach and every general manager, and UH we listed their political donations which were both relevant in the distant past and UM leading up to UM the twenty team midterm elections, and the skew was I mean, it wasn't even close, right, it was you know, I would say seventy to seventy five percent of the league UH donated to the UH president, the current president of the United States, and his campaign and super PACs of the like, UM you know, some of which UM you know, the Houston Texans ownership group was as far as donating to a superpack that UM, you know, promised to rid the I think the quote was rid the country of the scourge of immigration was the UH. UM was the stated message of the Political Action Committee that the donation was made too. So I would be fascinated to see how communication in that way is going to be made given the times that we're in, given what's going on. Um, you know, certainly the current president has no trouble raising funds. The historic nature of that has been made very clear to us on a daily basis. But um, how will NFL owners handle that specifically? Right? Because we're probably in that prime time for that last push, that last big donor push, We're gonna start seeing a ton of political ads on television. Um, We've seen a couple um superpacks for significant superpacks. I think that are very relevant to the coming presidential election. Forming. Um, and I'm on both sides of the aisle, and I'm wondering where owners are going to kind of lay there because you can't you can you can toss around dark money. I mean that's sort of a disadvantage of our and a sad thing about our political system. But uh, there there are ways to find out what, you know, who's donating what, and really that is unfortunately a lot of the way that people speak their minds now is through their wallet. Absolutely. And another idea that came up this week, Alexandria Acostio Cortez, congresswoman, said it Mike Florio Profo Ball Talk also, and I definitely agree with this change the Washington team mascot. You know, I wrote a story about this about six years ago, and it was a time when there really was a momentum growing behind changing the team name. Um and as things go, you know, interested what ebbs and flows. But the voices we ended up talking to Native American communities across the nation, visited handfil talk to others over the phone, and the voices of the Native Americans we spoke to really stick stood out to me. I know, there have been different polls that the NFL has used to generate or excuse me to um um excuse the continued use of the team name, saying it's doesn't bother Native Americans that much. I certainly found that there was not a consensus and there were different viewpoints across the board, but there were so many people that were personally deeply affected by the mascot name. And I remember, uh there were members of the Blackfeet Nation Tribal Council. They talked about how they were referred to by the R word in cut being Montana, which is a border town outside their reservation, and that's the same town where they would be referred to by the R word and also be denied service in some restaurants, which is you know, incomprehensible to many of us. UM. And I remember there was a member of a council for the Cisterton wapatan oh Yahdi tribe. I hope I have that right. He talked about how um, you know, the different slurs that he was called. You know, he'd get up to the classroom board and elementary school and be called different things. And so when he was the chairman of his tribe, he started a push to formally oppose a redman mascot of the high school and all Native American mascots. And so I think you just hear the tales of discrimination and how that personally affects people. And one quote that really stuck out with me was a U. S. Marine veteran and member of the Blackfeet Nation, Stephanie v. L said, racism gets really draining. Sometimes people accept it not because they want to, but because it has been so repetitive. That's kind of what the Redskins represent is our exhaustion. And I that really stuck with me. And I think if we're having a conversation about race in the United States and we have the Washington football team posting a black box for Blackout Tuesday and supporting a social media campaign, then they need to have a serious conversation about the fact that their mascot is a racial slur. Yeah, I can't outside of well, probably right next to the forty Niners doing it. Um. You know, the having Washington participate in Blackout Tuesday was is among one of the most sort of head scratching moments. And it's a position that they've put themselves in because you know, I'm sure as a team from a messaging standpoint, you don't want to be the only team not participating in it. But at the same time, you are currently the only team whose mascot is a racial slur and so and and defeating the entire purpose of of the stated campaign. And so I don't know, I mean, when when things like this happen, um, you know, uh, they tend to shine a very broad spotlight on a lot of issues that are systemic in our country, in our society. Um. But like we've talked about before, for the NFL, this this doesn't have to be that hard. It's two or three or four things that they specifically can do within their power very easily, um, if they were interested in doing it. But it just it seems like what we got, like we talked about last week was the safe statements, and we're moving on to training camp, you know, and I feel like that's kind of their hope is that they can close their eyes and get through this. Yeah. I think it's going to be interesting to see how a lot of organizations Sports Illustrated included follows through on what promises or discussions that are happening right now. So, you know, it's easy to participate in a social media campaign or put words on a statement that's say you push free equality or you're against racism, but are you taking anti racist actions? And I think a lot of organizations need to hold themselves accountable. Um to this point, that's been the issue. You know, people raise awareness, they try to ring an alarm bell like Colin Kaepernick and many others, and we don't heat it. It doesn't translate into enough change, and so it's up to leaders across the country to make sure that this really is a catalyst for real change rather than just a temporary blip. Yeah. So let's let's go into the first topic, because I think an interesting microcosm of everything that's going on right now, and that's that. UM. Saints quarterback Drew Brees had to clarify remarks UM I should put clarifying in quotation marks here UM that he made with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, after getting some backlash from teammate Michael Thomas. Breese said anya who that he quote would never agree with anyone disrespecting the flag of the United States of America when asked about players kneeling. UM. But after UM a few choice comments from Michael Thomas on Twitter that seemed to be directed towards him, although they weren't directly UM addressed to Drew Brees. Um he uh, He went back and said, I love and respect my teammates, and I stand right there with them in regards to fighting for racial quality and justice. I also stand with my grandfathers who risk their lives for this country and countless other military men and women who do it on a daily basis. Um. You know this is word meaningless word salad one oh one um year. UM, It's let's play both sides. I mean, Breeze has made no secret about his vague interest in a political future. UM, and it seems like he's getting a great head start on that already, because that's what we hear out of every press office in in the Congressional District of Washington, UM anyway. But I don't know, I mean, is this constructive not constructive? I mean, is it? I don't know. I mean, I don't know what to say specifically about Breeze because it seems like he's already figured out a way to get himself out of this and isn't really interested in having a meaningful discussion with Michael Thomas. But I don't know. Can these discussions happen somewhere else? You know, we've seen, uh, and we've heard from players that the inclusion of white players coming out and making statements. You know, we've seen Carson Wentz, zach Ertz, Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, you know, UM, a couple of these other um names that come to mind, Tom Brady signing the petition a couple of weeks ago, that all of this helps further the conversation, um are we will that help maybe bring what's happening now a greater momentum I guess than it's than it's had in the past. Yeah, I think it was What stood out to me about breezes comment was where he said, let me tell you what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played, or when I look at the flag of the United States, and he emphasized I and all of those things. And I think that just showed kind of a lack of understanding and that your perspective, Drew, is not the one that were is. Um, that's not the one that's underrepresented. We are trying to make sure that we listen to and hear people who are underrepresented and are underheard. And so I felt he almost forcefully kind of said that, right, like this is what I see, and it's like you can you can feel that, but you can also understand that not everybody feels the flag represents them. And it was just this strange lack of awareness I thought of, Um, you know, an a community figure to say, I my perspective is what matters to me in my opinion as to whether or not my black teammates or any teammates choose to kneel during the anthem. Yeah, I mean, and let's be real, I mean, you know, I think there are some people that acted surprised, um at this on Wednesday, and this is not the first time that this uh that Drew has come out and done something like this. I mean, you know, he forcefully tried to distance himself from the focus on the Family Coalition after he read a message and support of them, and whether it was he didn't realize that they had a strong anti LGBT focus or chose to ignore it for the time being, I mean, it's I'm not going to put words in anybody's mouth, but it's it's very clear where his kind of flag is planted. And I think what you brought up in terms of, you know, him recounting his own experiences, the whole point of this is it doesn't matter what you are feeling, or what I am feeling, or what Drew Brees is feeling. It's time for us to amplify what Michael Thomas feels when he hears the national anthem, or Alvin Kamara or any of his teammates that you know are never asked about that, or if they are, they're chided for providing an honest window into their feelings. And so I don't know, I I we talked a couple of weeks ago in this podcast about hoping that the changes that are implemented with the new alterations of the Rooney Rule result in at least one person listening during diversity training having something click in their minds that wasn't clicked before. Maybe that hope is extended to the NFL locker rooms across the league when this happens and players can congregate together again and actually have these discussions in person. M Yeah, I think that's really well said Connor. It's it's going to be interesting when teams are back together and how different teams address this issue. I mean, that's got to be the biggest question for head coaches this summer um. And that's again why it's stunning that there is such a lack of head coaches of color and general managers of color in the league. This is just another example of a situation where you have a locker room of your team is feeling something that what white head coaches will never fully understand, and they're leaving them through that. And that's not to say they can't be a leader in that situation, but it's why it's so important to have leaders and positions that where they can enact things like Kevin Warren with the Big Ten, who feel this on a different level and are more driven than others to take the actions that will actually fix it. UM. And I think in Breeze case, the fact that he issued a statement so soon after that really wasn't very far from what he initially he said. It was just kind of trying to straddle the line UM, really indicates that he hasn't yet taken that self reflective step. And I think that was really disappointing to see. The whole My grandfather's thing is mind blowing to me. UM. You know, I have relatives, close relatives that have served in the military, UM at different levels. UM. And I'm not going to put words in their mouth, but I'm a hundred percent positive that they felt that whether it was World War Two or the Korean War or the Iraqi uh, the Iraq War, that it felt good to bring um, you know, the semblance of democracy, of freedom, and that's what they believed that they were over there fighting for, you know. And to say that this isn't you know, uh freedom, you know, to have an opinion on you know, what's going on in America right now is is just ludicrous to me. And I think that it's just so overused and such a such a meaningless platitude like what my grandfather fought for. I mean, we don't know. I mean, and it's just such a I don't know, it's it's a loaded statement, you know what I'm saying. It's it's just it feels, it feels meaningless when you especially when you jam it into a context like Drew Brees is jamming it into. Yeah, at the least, it's an ill informed talking point, but it's also harmful and hurtful to many people. Um, all right, chill, we move on to topic to Connor. Alright, Ladinian Tomlinson called the treatment of Colin Kaepernick a black eye on the NFL, while Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who by the way, refused to work out Kaepernick after being unable to get clarity on whether Kaepernick wouldneil for the national Anthem, said that we as a country, oh a tremendous amount to the former forty nine star. What happens now specifically with Kaepernick and does his message get a renewed energy in the NFL circle? Uh. We talked a little bit about this last week and sort of the hollowness of um uh Lockhart expecting the Vikings to sign Kaepernick and that that would somehow make the situation better. And while I don't think that's going to happen, I'm curious if any of this a renewed focus on this, the fact that he was proven right about everything that he was UM shining a spotlight on does that change anybody's mind? I mean, I I don't know. Um, do we see him back in the league this year? UM? Or at the least do we see sort of a warming of UM coaches like Pete Carroll, who who treated the conversations about Kaepernick previously as nuclear like just get me away from this, UM to maybe coaches having more of a comfort level at least discussing the fact that this guy was once a player in the NFL. There's like an uncomfortable reality to some of these statements of people who were in hiring positions who chose not to make that higher at the time. UM. And so like, if you know, if you're someone like Brian Flores and this is your second year as a head coach, you didn't have that opportunity when Kaepernick was unsigned, but early on at least, UM, although you know last year he was still unsigned. So this is ongoing, and I think it's difficult to hear figures in the NFL way in and thinking like, weren't you didn't you play some role in being part of the problem here. Um, So I am curious to see what happens now. Like you said, Connor, you know it's there's going to be a renewed discussion of what happens, and people will say a team signed him now. But is that what Kaepernick's wants? And we talked about that earlier this week a little bit. You know, he's a smart guy. He stood for something, he was rejected for it. And would you want to play for a league that treated you like this so that they could hold you up as a symbol. I'm not sure. I don't want to. I don't want to make speculations. I have no idea how he feels. And maybe that is he would still be interested. But you know, if that was the motivating purpose, just to without there being an acknowledgement of you know, what we failed, we were wrong. Um if the purpose was essentially like hey, he's back in the league now, everything's fine, you know, I think that would certainly seem to be a nonstarter. Yeah, yeah, I I don't. You know, it's hard because the league has dug itself into such a hole in in that regard that I don't know where you go from here. I don't know what what position you go that feels not gross, you know what I mean, and not um, you know, just trying to put a band aid on it and moving on. I don't know what makes players feel better at this point, um and trusting the that the league would handle something like this again, I don't know. I mean, it's just a it's a it's a you know, are we too deep in that hole right now? You know what I mean. It's it's a it's a weird thing to ask, but you know, are we already at that point where it's like, well the damage is done? And it would be nice if someone would just come out and and really verbalize that and and take take the blame for it. And then we saw Joe Lockhart, who doesn't have as much invested, say the league messed up and not signing Kaepernick. But is there somebody who's you know, like we talked about seeking absolution or whatever, but is there somebody who would really say, this is what my team decided this was the let's be transparent about it. We were wrong. Um, we haven't seen that yet, and I don't know that we'll ever see that, but yeah, UM yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's it's gonna be interesting moving forward. I mean, you know, I think what would be Um, you know, I would love too. I think the last time we heard from Kaepernick publicly was after the workout, UM, and he was definitely resilient at that point, UM, certainly strong on his message. UM. You know. And while it seems like he has preferred to do amazing work behind the scenes and to just let his actions speak for himself, I wonder if he takes this opportunity to maybe come back into the forefront and just I don't know, say what's on his mind. I mean, I think that I would love to hear from him just two. And and this isn't in a way that say like where is where is he? Why is he hiding? I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that in the times that he has spoken in the past, I have heard, you know, a very inspired person an individual, and I would like to I don't know here here what he's thinking right now. And uh, you know, and and just sort of get his his thoughts on on everything that has unfolded over the last few weeks. Yeah. Absolutely, and he's you know, again, it's a difficult spot for him to be in. He took a stand, he was punished for it, and now we're all waiting to see what he does now. I mean, it's just a lot of pressure on on him and I can imagine that, Um, that would be a lot of different factors to weigh and in the situation. So yeah, um, okay, So we have just a shorter show again today. UM, like we we talked about last week. We'll be back um next week with a mail bag episode, which, by the way, UM, if you guys have not seen some of the Instagram posts that we've made or the Twitter posts that we've made, UM, you know, we'll start to get better at announcing where you can find us. But we we do have a specific show email address, and we've gotten a lot of great questions so far, um in our email address is weak side pod at gmail dot com. We check it regularly. UM, we've gotten a ton of great questions so far that we're really excited about. So we're we're definitely gonna come back next week with some mail bag questions talk about whatever is on your mind. Um and uh yeah, so just a notification there, but um, a shorter show this week, So will end here on sort of the third news topic, and that's a little bit of on field news. Training camps will all take place at home this year, while uh you know, teams will not be allowed to hold joint practices, which certainly impacts I think some coaches over the others who prefer um to practice against other teams and not themselves. Um. You know, we've heard about the mL the NBA having a more concrete back to work proposal. The MLB seems to be nearing something despite some periods of chaos there. I mean, is the fact that the NFL is still planning on everything starting relatively on time. Is it a sign that they still believe that this could actually happen or um or we have we just yet to reach that point where they're whatever you want to call it, delusions of grandeur or whatever it is, hasn't been checked properly yet. Yeah. It's interesting because a couple of weeks ago, the biggest issue seemed like this, how would teams come back safely amid the pandemic, and now the bigger question is how will they address nation that's fractured on racist lines and how will they address those divides in their locker room? Um, but the COVID is still real and it's still serious concerns. I saw the reports from Iowa State that there are four athletes and two different sports and quarantine, which I think was a little bit of one of those reminders that okay, like we can haven't we may have an outbreak as we start to return to sports, and uh, what is our plan and will it work? And you know, can we stop the spread and within the sports community quickly if that's the case. And I think these are all still unknowns. You know, there's still a lot of work to go in terms of seeing if this will work, in terms of getting these plans in place and making sure everyone's comfortable returning to work. So it's definitely receded to the background rightly, so, um, but that's something else that in the coming weeks, we're gonna have players and teams seeking answers to Yeah, um, we we won't close the show with Rentis consensus or an oracle or anything this week, but I guess. Uh. One good thing that gives me a little bit of hope is that I just texted Jenny before the show. We've got maybe some new week Side pod fans on the way. We've got some baby turtles that were just laid in my in my front yard, so I'm pretty psyched about that. So maybe we can you know, keep keep an eye on the baby turtles and you know, something to to look forward to keep us all saying for for for a little while. But we've got also also it's Connor Ore's birthday if you're listening to the show on UM Thursday. Thursday, June fourth is Connor Ore's birthday. Happy birthday to Connor. Thank you. I can't believe I'll be able to legally drink now. What a year twenty one a milestone for sure, Connor definitely, Um, Well, thanks for listening guys as always, and uh, you know, be sure to reach out to us via email, Twitter, UM, our show's page on the mm QB Instagram feed. We're here to listen about anything you know, so feel free to uh to send us a message and and thanks for always uh being a part of our show. Absolutely we'll get to some of those mail bag questions in future weeks. We appreciate them coming. That's week Side pod at gmail dot com. Want to hear any of your thoughts and look forward to seeing you guys again soon. The mm QB week Side Podcast is me, Jenny Rerentis and Connor Or. We are produced by Shelby Royston. Sizes. Executive producer of podcasts is Scott Brody, Ben Eagles, Director of Editorial Projects and Products. Mark Murvik is emeritus executive director of the mm QB. Keep up with our entire lineup of podcasts five days a week by subscribing to the mm QB NFL Podcast for free on Apple Podcasts. And while you're there, please do us a favor and leave a rating and review. It really does help other people find the show, which is also available on Spotify Radio dot com, stitcher aside dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts,

Okay, guys, The weak Side Podcast back for our second episode this week alongside Jenny Frentis, I'm connor Or and UM, we're gonna talk a little bit about football today. UM. You know, there's some news coming up with training camps and where the league kind of visions everything going. But I think we're gonna start a little bit around where we ended last week, and that's just wondering where teams go from here. UM. I think that there's a sentiment from everybody around the league that this moment right now UM is certainly building off of the energy, the UM focus that Colin Kaepernick brought into the equation four years ago. But the difference I think is that many more players are speaking out about it, UM coaches are speaking out about it UM now, whether they it's because they feel forced to speak out about it or they're trying to follow in the footstep of other coaches who spoke out about it first. UM that said, you know, we have a situation where, you know, even Matt Patricia of the Lions said, we're going to start talking about football when only when everybody in the locker room is ready to start talking about football. UM. And it presents a unique set of circumstances. I think for coaches who are not adequately um equipped to handle situations like this. We've seen it time and time again where it's a deer in headlights when stuff like this comes up. But um, it brings up an interesting question, Jenny, which is where does everybody go from here? Where do players go from here? Where do coaches go from here? Where does owners, general, managers, the league office? Where does everybody go from here? Now, um that it seems like, uh, the state of play has come into a much clearer focus than it has in in days, months, weeks past. Yeah. Absolutely. We saw Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks say what actual ups is the league going to take to support the fight for justice and systemic reform, basically saying that the league's statement said nothing. The league is built on black athletes, So you know, they can bring people into teach us how we should interact with police, he said, but not make not work towards changing the behavior of the police themselves. Silence will not make this go away. So I think we're seeing now the shift is like, what are you actually going to do? The statements, some of them have been strong, some of them have been inadequate. UM. And I think how teams follow through really matters, especially when you see a lot of owners who have publicly supported the president and to have thrown their money into uh causes that are antisocial justice and have you know, downstream connotations. Right, So, how are teams going to kind of take actions to flip things around and to recommit their their their selves in a different way and not just throw money at the problem? Right? And money is important, but I think there's a lot of other actions that teams are gonna do. You know, I saw Kevin Warren, who's the first black commissioner of a Power five conference Big ten created an anti hate and anti racism coalition. Um. You know, University of Minnesota is not contracting with the Minneapolis Police Department, but that includes security for sports events, Like would teams follow suits? Um? Not related to the NFL, but I was thinking a lot. You know, with the Olympics coming up, they've banned kneeling in so called political acts. You know, would we see changes in that? So? I think, Uh, the last week, we've seen people more willing to speak up. But what matters the most is how they turn words into action and will they follow through on some of the things that they claim to value and want to emphasize moving forward. You brought up political money, which I think is really interesting. UM right after the Steen election, right before the midterm elections. Sorry, UM, I went through every UM owner or anyone kind of associated with the ownership group of a team in the NFL, every head coach and every general manager, and UH we listed their political donations which were both relevant in the distant past and UM leading up to UM the twenty team midterm elections, and the skew was I mean, it wasn't even close, right, it was you know, I would say seventy to seventy five percent of the league UH donated to the UH president, the current president of the United States, and his campaign and super PACs of the like, UM you know, some of which UM you know, the Houston Texans ownership group was as far as donating to a superpack that UM, you know, promised to rid the I think the quote was rid the country of the scourge of immigration was the UH. UM was the stated message of the Political Action Committee that the donation was made too. So I would be fascinated to see how communication in that way is going to be made given the times that we're in, given what's going on. Um, you know, certainly the current president has no trouble raising funds. The historic nature of that has been made very clear to us on a daily basis. But um, how will NFL owners handle that specifically? Right? Because we're probably in that prime time for that last push, that last big donor push, We're gonna start seeing a ton of political ads on television. Um, We've seen a couple um superpacks for significant superpacks. I think that are very relevant to the coming presidential election. Forming. Um, and I'm on both sides of the aisle, and I'm wondering where owners are going to kind of lay there because you can't you can you can toss around dark money. I mean that's sort of a disadvantage of our and a sad thing about our political system. But uh, there there are ways to find out what, you know, who's donating what, and really that is unfortunately a lot of the way that people speak their minds now is through their wallet. Absolutely. And another idea that came up this week, Alexandria Acostio Cortez, congresswoman, said it Mike Florio Profo Ball Talk also, and I definitely agree with this change the Washington team mascot. You know, I wrote a story about this about six years ago, and it was a time when there really was a momentum growing behind changing the team name. Um and as things go, you know, interested what ebbs and flows. But the voices we ended up talking to Native American communities across the nation, visited handfil talk to others over the phone, and the voices of the Native Americans we spoke to really stick stood out to me. I know, there have been different polls that the NFL has used to generate or excuse me to um um excuse the continued use of the team name, saying it's doesn't bother Native Americans that much. I certainly found that there was not a consensus and there were different viewpoints across the board, but there were so many people that were personally deeply affected by the mascot name. And I remember, uh there were members of the Blackfeet Nation Tribal Council. They talked about how they were referred to by the R word in cut being Montana, which is a border town outside their reservation, and that's the same town where they would be referred to by the R word and also be denied service in some restaurants, which is you know, incomprehensible to many of us. UM. And I remember there was a member of a council for the Cisterton wapatan oh Yahdi tribe. I hope I have that right. He talked about how um, you know, the different slurs that he was called. You know, he'd get up to the classroom board and elementary school and be called different things. And so when he was the chairman of his tribe, he started a push to formally oppose a redman mascot of the high school and all Native American mascots. And so I think you just hear the tales of discrimination and how that personally affects people. And one quote that really stuck out with me was a U. S. Marine veteran and member of the Blackfeet Nation, Stephanie v. L said, racism gets really draining. Sometimes people accept it not because they want to, but because it has been so repetitive. That's kind of what the Redskins represent is our exhaustion. And I that really stuck with me. And I think if we're having a conversation about race in the United States and we have the Washington football team posting a black box for Blackout Tuesday and supporting a social media campaign, then they need to have a serious conversation about the fact that their mascot is a racial slur. Yeah, I can't outside of well, probably right next to the forty Niners doing it. Um. You know, the having Washington participate in Blackout Tuesday was is among one of the most sort of head scratching moments. And it's a position that they've put themselves in because you know, I'm sure as a team from a messaging standpoint, you don't want to be the only team not participating in it. But at the same time, you are currently the only team whose mascot is a racial slur and so and and defeating the entire purpose of of the stated campaign. And so I don't know, I mean, when when things like this happen, um, you know, uh, they tend to shine a very broad spotlight on a lot of issues that are systemic in our country, in our society. Um. But like we've talked about before, for the NFL, this this doesn't have to be that hard. It's two or three or four things that they specifically can do within their power very easily, um, if they were interested in doing it. But it just it seems like what we got, like we talked about last week was the safe statements, and we're moving on to training camp, you know, and I feel like that's kind of their hope is that they can close their eyes and get through this. Yeah. I think it's going to be interesting to see how a lot of organizations Sports Illustrated included follows through on what promises or discussions that are happening right now. So, you know, it's easy to participate in a social media campaign or put words on a statement that's say you push free equality or you're against racism, but are you taking anti racist actions? And I think a lot of organizations need to hold themselves accountable. Um to this point, that's been the issue. You know, people raise awareness, they try to ring an alarm bell like Colin Kaepernick and many others, and we don't heat it. It doesn't translate into enough change, and so it's up to leaders across the country to make sure that this really is a catalyst for real change rather than just a temporary blip. Yeah. So let's let's go into the first topic, because I think an interesting microcosm of everything that's going on right now, and that's that. UM. Saints quarterback Drew Brees had to clarify remarks UM I should put clarifying in quotation marks here UM that he made with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, after getting some backlash from teammate Michael Thomas. Breese said anya who that he quote would never agree with anyone disrespecting the flag of the United States of America when asked about players kneeling. UM. But after UM a few choice comments from Michael Thomas on Twitter that seemed to be directed towards him, although they weren't directly UM addressed to Drew Brees. Um he uh, He went back and said, I love and respect my teammates, and I stand right there with them in regards to fighting for racial quality and justice. I also stand with my grandfathers who risk their lives for this country and countless other military men and women who do it on a daily basis. Um. You know this is word meaningless word salad one oh one um year. UM, It's let's play both sides. I mean, Breeze has made no secret about his vague interest in a political future. UM, and it seems like he's getting a great head start on that already, because that's what we hear out of every press office in in the Congressional District of Washington, UM anyway. But I don't know, I mean, is this constructive not constructive? I mean, is it? I don't know. I mean, I don't know what to say specifically about Breeze because it seems like he's already figured out a way to get himself out of this and isn't really interested in having a meaningful discussion with Michael Thomas. But I don't know. Can these discussions happen somewhere else? You know, we've seen, uh, and we've heard from players that the inclusion of white players coming out and making statements. You know, we've seen Carson Wentz, zach Ertz, Trevor Lawrence at Clemson, you know, UM, a couple of these other um names that come to mind, Tom Brady signing the petition a couple of weeks ago, that all of this helps further the conversation, um are we will that help maybe bring what's happening now a greater momentum I guess than it's than it's had in the past. Yeah, I think it was What stood out to me about breezes comment was where he said, let me tell you what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played, or when I look at the flag of the United States, and he emphasized I and all of those things. And I think that just showed kind of a lack of understanding and that your perspective, Drew, is not the one that were is. Um, that's not the one that's underrepresented. We are trying to make sure that we listen to and hear people who are underrepresented and are underheard. And so I felt he almost forcefully kind of said that, right, like this is what I see, and it's like you can you can feel that, but you can also understand that not everybody feels the flag represents them. And it was just this strange lack of awareness I thought of, Um, you know, an a community figure to say, I my perspective is what matters to me in my opinion as to whether or not my black teammates or any teammates choose to kneel during the anthem. Yeah, I mean, and let's be real, I mean, you know, I think there are some people that acted surprised, um at this on Wednesday, and this is not the first time that this uh that Drew has come out and done something like this. I mean, you know, he forcefully tried to distance himself from the focus on the Family Coalition after he read a message and support of them, and whether it was he didn't realize that they had a strong anti LGBT focus or chose to ignore it for the time being, I mean, it's I'm not going to put words in anybody's mouth, but it's it's very clear where his kind of flag is planted. And I think what you brought up in terms of, you know, him recounting his own experiences, the whole point of this is it doesn't matter what you are feeling, or what I am feeling, or what Drew Brees is feeling. It's time for us to amplify what Michael Thomas feels when he hears the national anthem, or Alvin Kamara or any of his teammates that you know are never asked about that, or if they are, they're chided for providing an honest window into their feelings. And so I don't know, I I we talked a couple of weeks ago in this podcast about hoping that the changes that are implemented with the new alterations of the Rooney Rule result in at least one person listening during diversity training having something click in their minds that wasn't clicked before. Maybe that hope is extended to the NFL locker rooms across the league when this happens and players can congregate together again and actually have these discussions in person. M Yeah, I think that's really well said Connor. It's it's going to be interesting when teams are back together and how different teams address this issue. I mean, that's got to be the biggest question for head coaches this summer um. And that's again why it's stunning that there is such a lack of head coaches of color and general managers of color in the league. This is just another example of a situation where you have a locker room of your team is feeling something that what white head coaches will never fully understand, and they're leaving them through that. And that's not to say they can't be a leader in that situation, but it's why it's so important to have leaders and positions that where they can enact things like Kevin Warren with the Big Ten, who feel this on a different level and are more driven than others to take the actions that will actually fix it. UM. And I think in Breeze case, the fact that he issued a statement so soon after that really wasn't very far from what he initially he said. It was just kind of trying to straddle the line UM, really indicates that he hasn't yet taken that self reflective step. And I think that was really disappointing to see. The whole My grandfather's thing is mind blowing to me. UM. You know, I have relatives, close relatives that have served in the military, UM at different levels. UM. And I'm not going to put words in their mouth, but I'm a hundred percent positive that they felt that whether it was World War Two or the Korean War or the Iraqi uh, the Iraq War, that it felt good to bring um, you know, the semblance of democracy, of freedom, and that's what they believed that they were over there fighting for, you know. And to say that this isn't you know, uh freedom, you know, to have an opinion on you know, what's going on in America right now is is just ludicrous to me. And I think that it's just so overused and such a such a meaningless platitude like what my grandfather fought for. I mean, we don't know. I mean, and it's just such a I don't know, it's it's a loaded statement, you know what I'm saying. It's it's just it feels, it feels meaningless when you especially when you jam it into a context like Drew Brees is jamming it into. Yeah, at the least, it's an ill informed talking point, but it's also harmful and hurtful to many people. Um, all right, chill, we move on to topic to Connor. Alright, Ladinian Tomlinson called the treatment of Colin Kaepernick a black eye on the NFL, while Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, who by the way, refused to work out Kaepernick after being unable to get clarity on whether Kaepernick wouldneil for the national Anthem, said that we as a country, oh a tremendous amount to the former forty nine star. What happens now specifically with Kaepernick and does his message get a renewed energy in the NFL circle? Uh. We talked a little bit about this last week and sort of the hollowness of um uh Lockhart expecting the Vikings to sign Kaepernick and that that would somehow make the situation better. And while I don't think that's going to happen, I'm curious if any of this a renewed focus on this, the fact that he was proven right about everything that he was UM shining a spotlight on does that change anybody's mind? I mean, I I don't know. Um, do we see him back in the league this year? UM? Or at the least do we see sort of a warming of UM coaches like Pete Carroll, who who treated the conversations about Kaepernick previously as nuclear like just get me away from this, UM to maybe coaches having more of a comfort level at least discussing the fact that this guy was once a player in the NFL. There's like an uncomfortable reality to some of these statements of people who were in hiring positions who chose not to make that higher at the time. UM. And so like, if you know, if you're someone like Brian Flores and this is your second year as a head coach, you didn't have that opportunity when Kaepernick was unsigned, but early on at least, UM, although you know last year he was still unsigned. So this is ongoing, and I think it's difficult to hear figures in the NFL way in and thinking like, weren't you didn't you play some role in being part of the problem here. Um, So I am curious to see what happens now. Like you said, Connor, you know it's there's going to be a renewed discussion of what happens, and people will say a team signed him now. But is that what Kaepernick's wants? And we talked about that earlier this week a little bit. You know, he's a smart guy. He stood for something, he was rejected for it. And would you want to play for a league that treated you like this so that they could hold you up as a symbol. I'm not sure. I don't want to. I don't want to make speculations. I have no idea how he feels. And maybe that is he would still be interested. But you know, if that was the motivating purpose, just to without there being an acknowledgement of you know, what we failed, we were wrong. Um if the purpose was essentially like hey, he's back in the league now, everything's fine, you know, I think that would certainly seem to be a nonstarter. Yeah, yeah, I I don't. You know, it's hard because the league has dug itself into such a hole in in that regard that I don't know where you go from here. I don't know what what position you go that feels not gross, you know what I mean, and not um, you know, just trying to put a band aid on it and moving on. I don't know what makes players feel better at this point, um and trusting the that the league would handle something like this again, I don't know. I mean, it's just a it's a it's a you know, are we too deep in that hole right now? You know what I mean. It's it's a it's a weird thing to ask, but you know, are we already at that point where it's like, well the damage is done? And it would be nice if someone would just come out and and really verbalize that and and take take the blame for it. And then we saw Joe Lockhart, who doesn't have as much invested, say the league messed up and not signing Kaepernick. But is there somebody who's you know, like we talked about seeking absolution or whatever, but is there somebody who would really say, this is what my team decided this was the let's be transparent about it. We were wrong. Um, we haven't seen that yet, and I don't know that we'll ever see that, but yeah, UM yeah, I don't know. I mean, it's it's gonna be interesting moving forward. I mean, you know, I think what would be Um, you know, I would love too. I think the last time we heard from Kaepernick publicly was after the workout, UM, and he was definitely resilient at that point, UM, certainly strong on his message. UM. You know. And while it seems like he has preferred to do amazing work behind the scenes and to just let his actions speak for himself, I wonder if he takes this opportunity to maybe come back into the forefront and just I don't know, say what's on his mind. I mean, I think that I would love to hear from him just two. And and this isn't in a way that say like where is where is he? Why is he hiding? I'm not saying that. I'm just saying that in the times that he has spoken in the past, I have heard, you know, a very inspired person an individual, and I would like to I don't know here here what he's thinking right now. And uh, you know, and and just sort of get his his thoughts on on everything that has unfolded over the last few weeks. Yeah. Absolutely, and he's you know, again, it's a difficult spot for him to be in. He took a stand, he was punished for it, and now we're all waiting to see what he does now. I mean, it's just a lot of pressure on on him and I can imagine that, Um, that would be a lot of different factors to weigh and in the situation. So yeah, um, okay, So we have just a shorter show again today. UM, like we we talked about last week. We'll be back um next week with a mail bag episode, which, by the way, UM, if you guys have not seen some of the Instagram posts that we've made or the Twitter posts that we've made, UM, you know, we'll start to get better at announcing where you can find us. But we we do have a specific show email address, and we've gotten a lot of great questions so far, um in our email address is weak side pod at gmail dot com. We check it regularly. UM, we've gotten a ton of great questions so far that we're really excited about. So we're we're definitely gonna come back next week with some mail bag questions talk about whatever is on your mind. Um and uh yeah, so just a notification there, but um, a shorter show this week, So will end here on sort of the third news topic, and that's a little bit of on field news. Training camps will all take place at home this year, while uh you know, teams will not be allowed to hold joint practices, which certainly impacts I think some coaches over the others who prefer um to practice against other teams and not themselves. Um. You know, we've heard about the mL the NBA having a more concrete back to work proposal. The MLB seems to be nearing something despite some periods of chaos there. I mean, is the fact that the NFL is still planning on everything starting relatively on time. Is it a sign that they still believe that this could actually happen or um or we have we just yet to reach that point where they're whatever you want to call it, delusions of grandeur or whatever it is, hasn't been checked properly yet. Yeah. It's interesting because a couple of weeks ago, the biggest issue seemed like this, how would teams come back safely amid the pandemic, and now the bigger question is how will they address nation that's fractured on racist lines and how will they address those divides in their locker room? Um, but the COVID is still real and it's still serious concerns. I saw the reports from Iowa State that there are four athletes and two different sports and quarantine, which I think was a little bit of one of those reminders that okay, like we can haven't we may have an outbreak as we start to return to sports, and uh, what is our plan and will it work? And you know, can we stop the spread and within the sports community quickly if that's the case. And I think these are all still unknowns. You know, there's still a lot of work to go in terms of seeing if this will work, in terms of getting these plans in place and making sure everyone's comfortable returning to work. So it's definitely receded to the background rightly, so, um, but that's something else that in the coming weeks, we're gonna have players and teams seeking answers to Yeah, um, we we won't close the show with Rentis consensus or an oracle or anything this week, but I guess. Uh. One good thing that gives me a little bit of hope is that I just texted Jenny before the show. We've got maybe some new week Side pod fans on the way. We've got some baby turtles that were just laid in my in my front yard, so I'm pretty psyched about that. So maybe we can you know, keep keep an eye on the baby turtles and you know, something to to look forward to keep us all saying for for for a little while. But we've got also also it's Connor Ore's birthday if you're listening to the show on UM Thursday. Thursday, June fourth is Connor Ore's birthday. Happy birthday to Connor. Thank you. I can't believe I'll be able to legally drink now. What a year twenty one a milestone for sure, Connor definitely, Um, Well, thanks for listening guys as always, and uh, you know, be sure to reach out to us via email, Twitter, UM, our show's page on the mm QB Instagram feed. We're here to listen about anything you know, so feel free to uh to send us a message and and thanks for always uh being a part of our show. Absolutely we'll get to some of those mail bag questions in future weeks. We appreciate them coming. That's week Side pod at gmail dot com. Want to hear any of your thoughts and look forward to seeing you guys again soon. The mm QB week Side Podcast is me, Jenny Rerentis and Connor Or. We are produced by Shelby Royston. Sizes. Executive producer of podcasts is Scott Brody, Ben Eagles, Director of Editorial Projects and Products. Mark Murvik is emeritus executive director of the mm QB. Keep up with our entire lineup of podcasts five days a week by subscribing to the mm QB NFL Podcast for free on Apple Podcasts. And while you're there, please do us a favor and leave a rating and review. It really does help other people find the show, which is also available on Spotify Radio dot com, stitcher aside dot com, and wherever else you listen to podcasts,