Your “Will The Song Remain The Same?” Thursday Evening Open Thread

NFL Nuggets:

• Coaches can return to team facilities as of Friday, according to the league office.
  • Coaches may return only if the team has “received necessary permission from state and local governments to reopen its facility,” according to the league memo.
  • Clubs may also increase the number of employees in the facility to a total of 100, if allowed by local authorities.
    • But only players receiving rehab treatments are allowed in the facilities at present.
  • Of all 32 teams, only the 49ers are the only team unable to open on Friday, due to existing County health protocols.
    • Which tells you what Santa Clara thinks of Jed York.

• The Packers are being lauded today for their team response to current events.
  • They produced a team video in response to current events, wherein a dozen prominent players make statements about the need to pursue racial equality.
    • Naturally, the backwoods hunters have differing opinions.
  • It seems a far-better response than saying you spoke to your college players about things, only to be outed as having done nothing of the sort.

Enough is enough.

It's time for change. https://t.co/AS7wP9qz2x

— Green Bay Packers (@packers) June 4, 2020

• Bills rookie QB Jake Fromm, who I remind you was drafted in the 5th round out of Georgia, has apologized for some racist text messages sent last year.
  • In the texts, which were dated March 16, 2019, Fromm said he thinks “guns are good” but then added, “Just make them very expensive so only elite white people can get them haha.”
  • They were apparently to a girl friend or girlfriend, and the responses to her outing these messages are what you’d expect from the mouthbreathers of the internet.

https://twitter.com/ashleymp20/status/1268392579193876482

Did you feel a hot breeze this morning? One that felt like a swift whirlwind of recantation & apology? If so, that was Drew Brees hurrying to respond to a crisis he caused.

• You may recall that on Wednesday he said this when interviewed by Yahoo! Finance:
  • “I will never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag of the United States of America or our country,” Brees said. “Let me just tell what I see or what I feel when the national anthem is played and when I look at the flag of the United States. I envision my two grandfathers, who fought for this country during World War II, one in the Army and one in the Marine Corp. Both risking their lives to protect our country and to try to make our country and this world a better place. So every time I stand with my hand over my heart looking at that flag and singing the national anthem, that’s what I think about.
• Which then led to Malcolm Jenkins going off, saying – amongst other things – that Brees, “unfortunately … unfortunately, you’re somebody who doesn’t understand their privilege.”

• Then Detective Moreland got involved: (the whole thread is an impressive read)

To @DrewBrees :My 95yr old father fought in WWII at Saipan risking his life for the United States of America, a country that had little respect for himWhen he returned to New Orleans he was denied his right to vote, his right to live where he wanted & most of his civil rights…

— Wendell Pierce (@WendellPierce) June 3, 2020

• So this morning, with all the haste a PR firm could muster, Drew Brees issued the following statement:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBA1P3gHpT_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Most people seemed to accept it, although with a bit of a side-eye,

One of my brothers made a public statement yesterday that I disagreed with. He apologized & I accept it because that’s what we are taught to do as Christians. Now back to the movement! #GeorgeFloyd

— Michael Thomas (@Cantguardmike) June 4, 2020

I could’ve easily got on social media and attacked @drewbrees yesterday. His comments were extremely insensitive, dismissive, and flat out disappointing. Knowing him personally and his character I decided not to do so, and addressed things internally….

— T. Stead 🎤🎧 (@T_Armstead72) June 4, 2020

and then there was a stupid man with a microphone & a daily TV show…

Drew Brees should probably retire https://t.co/61nuI7jjys

— shannon sharpe (@ShannonSharpe) June 4, 2020

I think we also know who today’s good internet dog is, despite entitled shitheels like Florio questioning the intellectual honesty of the whole thing.

Tonight’s … entertainment?:

• College Baseball:
  • Collegiate Summer Baseball Invitational
    • Game 1 – 7:00PM | ESPN2
    • Game 2 – 9:00PM | ESPN2
  • The Collegiate Summer Baseball Invitational in Bryan, Texas. The four-team tournament has players from over 70 Div. I schools, including Auburn, Texas Tech, South Carolina, Alabama, Oregon State, TCU and NC State.
    • It’s basically a draft showcase.

• Caddyshack – 8:00PM | BBC America
  • You know you want to watch it.
• 2020 Royal Rumble – 8:00PM | FS1
  • It’s only notable for the last match. The rest of it was pretty “meh”.
• NFL’s Greatest Games – 8:00PM | NBCSN
  • The 1998 Super Bowl – Broncos vs. Packers
• Top Chef – 10:00PM | Bravo / Food Network Canada
  • The final five travel to Italy, where the chefs must make an aperitivo for 30 locals from the town of Lucca that pairs perfectly with a Peroni beer; then, they hunt the elusive white truffle which they must use in a dish for a Tuscan food festival.
    • The season finale is next week.

That’s “This Week in NFL Twitter”. Stay tunes for Balls tomorrow night, and something from me this weekend. Stay safe.