New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Pelicans and New Orleans Saints are among the more than 100 companies that took part in recent mentorship programs with students from historically Black colleges and universities.

"It's a one-on-one, face-to-face interaction that is free flowing that allows someone who is more experienced to pour their knowledge into someone who isn't as much and is looking to get into their industry," said Gregory Gibson, the creator of HBCU office hours.

The Pelicans ensured some of the most prominent names in the organization took part to provide help for younger people looking to get into the industry.

Team president Dennis Lauscha, general manager David Griffin and vice president of basketball operations Swin Cash each spent time speaking to students in the area.

"There is a lot of talent coming out of HBCUs, so I would just say cast a wider net to give opportunities," Cash said, "because these young people are hungry, they're focused and they're driven. And I just love the fact that they are our future."

Students from 41 different HBCU were involved in the program.

Rapper Eminem took aim at New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees during an appearance on Kid Cudi's new track, "The Adventures Of Moon Man & Slim Shady."

Here's a look at the lyrical reference, via Genius:

I had hoop dreams, now I shoot threes (What?)
Got a lil' green (Yeah), but I don't do weed (Nope)
Purp nor lean (Nah), that's Tunechi (Yeah)
That's New Orleans (What?), f--k Drew Brees (Yeah)

Eminem also made an ode to Michael Jordan in the song:

Now if rap was B-ball, I'd be Jordan-like, bitch (What?)
You wish you could score like this (Nah), yeah
Not even at half court, I'd miss (Nah)
I'm mouthwash, 'cause if I was on the floor, I'd swish (Fluoride, fluoride, swish)

The lyric video was released Thursday night (language NSFW):

Brees drew sharp criticism in June for saying he'd "never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag" when asked about the possibility of players kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality throughout the 2020 NFL season.

He later posted an apology on Instagram, saying his comments "lacked awareness and any type of compassion or empathy."

"I stand with the Black community in the fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality and support the creation of real policy change that will make a difference," Brees wrote. "I condemn the years of oppression that have taken place throughout our Black communities and still exists today."

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell later released a statement admitting the league was "wrong" to have previously attempted to prevent player protests and said the league encourages "all to speak out and peacefully protest."

"We, the National Football League, believe Black lives matter. I personally protest with you and want to be part of the much-needed change in this country," he said. "Without Black players, there would be no National Football League. And the protests around the country are emblematic of the centuries of silence, inequality and oppression of Black players, coaches, fans and staff."

The regular season is scheduled to kick off Sept. 10. Brees and the Saints open their campaign Sept. 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins won't feel comfortable playing the 2020 season if there's a risk of being infected with COVID-19.  

In an interview with CNN's John Berman, Jenkins called football a "nonessential business" and "the risk has to be really eliminated" before he would feel comfortable playing games:

The first major NFL event cancellation occurred on Thursday with the announcement from the Pro Football Hall of Fame that events scheduled for enshrinement week from Aug. 6-10 have been postponed to next year. 

That includes the 2020 Hall of Fame Game between the Dallas Cowboys and Pittsburgh Steelers. This year's enshrinement ceremony will be held in 2021.

NFL executive vice president Jeff Pash told reporters on Thursday that the league is still planning to open training camps as scheduled on July 28. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN (h/t ESPN) last week that "it would be very hard to see how football is able to be played this fall" if the league doesn't use some sort of bubble environment like the NBA, WNBA and MLS are using. 

Jenkins admitted the difficulty of trying a bubble format like other leagues because the NFL "has over 2,000 players, even more coaches and staff." He also noted that without a bubble format, the league would have to rely on "the honor system" to ensure players and staff are adhering to social distancing guidelines when they're not at NFL facilities.

The 2020 NFL regular season is scheduled to begin on Sept. 10 with the Houston Texans playing the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.

New Orleans will open the season on Sept. 13 at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees and his wife, Brittany Brees, announced Thursday they will be the presenting sponsors of the Black College Football Hall of Fame's "The Road to Equality" event July 15.

The Black College Football Hall of Fame, which honors players, coaches and administrators from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), provided further details about the virtual event:

The Brees family will provide "financial and promotional support" for the event, per ESPN's Mike Triplett.

Other sponsors include six NFL teams (Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers), the Robert Kraft Patriots Foundation, Arizona Cardinals head coach Kliff Kingsbury and Auburn head coach Guz Malzahn and his wife, Kristi Malzahn.

The discussion will be hosted by Steve Wyche and Charles Davis with an appearance from author Samuel Freedman.

"Our goal for this meaningful event is to engage in the national discussion on social justice by sharing the history of black college football and its impact on civil rights," the official website reads. "It is also intended to be a platform to raise funds and awareness for HBCU football programs and the Black College Football Hall of Fame."

Brees received sharp criticism for June 3 comments about players potentially taking a knee during the national anthem to protest racial injustice and police brutality:

His remarks about the movement, which was started in 2016 by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, came amid worldwide protests after George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, was killed while in Minneapolis Police custody last month.

Brees released an apology saying he'd be an ally to the Black Lives Matter movement going forward.

"I stand with the Black community in the fight against systemic racial injustice and police brutality and support the creation of real policy change that will make a difference," he wrote on Instagram. "I condemn the years of oppression that have taken place throughout our Black communities and still exists today."

Brees has spent the past 14 years with the Saints after starting his career with the San Diego Chargers. He signed a two-year, $50 million contract in March.

New Orleans Saints safety Malcolm Jenkins spoke with Bleacher Report's Taylor Rooks on Thursday about racism and where things stand with quarterback Drew Brees regarding his comments about kneeling during the national anthem.

Brees made headlines a few weeks ago when he said during an interview with Yahoo Finance that he didn't agree with kneeling during the anthem because of his belief that it is disrespectful to the flag.

Given the current climate of the United States, with protests being held across the country in opposition to racial inequality, social injustice and police brutality following the killing of 46-year-old Black man George Floyd while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, there was plenty of backlash from Brees' remarks.

Some of Brees' teammates condemned his comments, and Jenkins was among them.

BR Video

While speaking with Rooks, Jenkins discussed how he went about explaining to Brees why what he said was offensive to Black people:

"I honestly don't think he necessarily knew what he wasn't saying. And I tried to tell him, 'Your thoughts on the flag are yours. You are open to that opinion, I have no problem with that opinion. Nobody's hurt because of how you feel about the flag, we actually know that about you and expect that from you. But it's more about acknowledging what it may mean to me or what it may not mean to me. Not even about the flag, just about the entire demonstration in general, what that's about. Acknowledging that pain or that gripe or grievance that I have is really what it comes down to.'"

Shortly after making the flag comments, Brees apologized in a lengthy Instagram post and wrote that he "completely missed the mark" with his words.

When asked by Rooks if he believes Brees truly understands why he was wrong, Jenkins responded affirmatively:

"I think obviously with all of the backlash with him talking to a lot of the guys he's closest with and the guys that he's played with over his long career—he reached out to a lot of us, me included, and I think that guys being able to tell somebody like Drew Brees the truth that, 'Your words hurt because of this,' I think that really helped him realize how deep it was for his teammates and for other people that didn't share his experience. And I think he understands that sometimes there's opportunity for you to really just listen and be a lot more careful, especially as polarized as our country is."

In addition to Brees' comments, Jenkins addressed the subject of racism as a whole. Jenkins is of the opinion that someone doesn't necessarily have to hate Black people to be racist.

Jenkins expanded on that idea by suggesting that racism is really all about power:

"When it comes to racism, people have to understand that it can deal with hate, but you don't have to hate people in order to be racist. Race has everything to do with your prejudices and the ability to exercise some type of power, which is why you hear a lot of Black people say Black people can't be racist."

Jenkins is one of many athletes who have spoken out against racism over the years, but especially over the past month given recent events.

NFL players of all races have been especially outspoken, and it seems likely that most or possibly even all teams will kneel during the national anthem in 2020, which is a practice that originated with then-San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in 2016.  

President Donald Trump says New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees will regret apologizing for his criticism of protests against social injustice during the national anthem. 

"I've never seen anything like it, and I think he hurt himself badly," Trump told his son Donald Trump Jr. on a special on his YouTube channel (3:39 mark). "I was going to put out that he'll regret that in the future years because you stand for the flag. You have to stand for the flag and the anthem, our national anthem. You have to stand. And I think the NFL's gonna have a lot of problems if they don't."

Brees did an interview with Yahoo Finance on June 3, saying he disagrees with anyone who "disrespects" the flag by kneeling during the national anthem. The comment drew nationwide derision, including from some Saints teammates, with the nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis Police custody on May 25.

Brees issued several public apologies in the days following the controversy, saying he was "insensitive and completely missed the mark on the issues we are facing right now as a country." He also posted the following caption alongside a photo with the words "To President Trump" after the president attempted to come to his defense on the issue:

"Through my ongoing conversations with friends, teammates, and leaders in the black community, I realize this is not an issue about the American flag," Brees wrote on Instagram. "It has never been. We can no longer use the flag to turn people away or distract them from the real issues that face our black communities.

"We did this back in 2017, and regretfully I brought it back with my comments this week. We must stop talking about the flag and shift our attention to the real issues of systemic racial injustice, economic oppression, police brutality, and judicial & prison reform."

Trump has criticized the practice of kneeling during the anthem on several occasions, including in September 2017, when he called players who demonstrate "son[s] of bitch[es]" and called on them to be fired. That comment led to widespread protests across the NFL.

Several NFL players, including Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, have said they plan on kneeling during the anthem in 2020. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell issued an apology for the league's past efforts to stop protests June 5 after several superstars posted a video calling on the NFL to do more.

A report from Jenny Vrentas of Sports Illustrated indicates the New Orleans Saints provided more extensive help to a local Roman Catholic archdiocese as it reacted to sexual abuse by clergy members than they initially revealed. 

Vrentas noted the Saints had previously said they offered "minimal" help to the Church and suggested it take an approach of being "fully transparent" when it released a list of 57 "credibly accused" clergy to the public in November 2018.

The Saints and owner Gayle Benson suggested they offered help on how to interact with the media at the time to Catholic Church and Archbishop Gregory Aymond, who has a close relationship with the team.

However, an attorney representing the Saints said senior vice president of communications Greg Bensel offered advice to Aymond months prior to the release of that list.

"Mr. Bensel did receive a call from the Archbishop during the summer asking Mr. Bensel for his opinion on the best way to handle the press and the negative series of media articles that were being written," attorney James Gulotta said. "Mr. Bensel suggested that the Archbishop call for and meet with the local newspaper's editorial board."

The Associated Press reported in February that a foundation for the Saints ownership provided at least $62 million to the Archdiocese of New Orleans and other entities involved with the Catholic Church, such as schools, universities, charities and parishes.

As that was happening, Aymond became quite close to Benson and husband Tom Benson, who died in 2018, and sometimes flew on their private plane and accompanied them to Saints and Pelicans games.

Gayle Benson said she has donated plenty of money but never to pay settlements or legal awards in relation to any clergy abuse. "To suggest that I would offer money to the Catholic Church for anything related to the clergy molestation issue sickens me," she wrote.

Mike Triplett of ESPN noted attorneys for the Saints, Archdiocese of New Orleans and the Associated Press went to court in February in an effort to publicize emails between the church and team. A judge has not issued a ruling.

According to Vrentas, New Orleans' Jesuit High School received a subpoena earlier this month requesting all communications with the Saints.

The NFL is monitoring the developments but has not started investigating the NFC South team.

Thirty-two Broadmoor LLC employees who were working on a renovation project in New Orleans' Mercedes-Benz Superdome have tested positive for COVID-19, per Tiffany Baptiste of Fox 8.  

A statement from the Superdome began as follows, per WDSU:

"We can confirm that in the last few weeks, 32 of the 275-plus daily workers on the project have tested positive for COVID-19. This post-Memorial Day increase is consistent with what 21 other states, not including Louisiana, are experiencing at this stage of the pandemic as more restrictions have been lifted for travel, shopping, and work."

Workers who tested positive were then isolated from the Superdome, mandated to complete "CDC-compliant protocol" and give Broadmoor LLC the results of a negative COVID-19 test before returning. Increased safety measures that include mandatory masks have also been put in place.

Other safety measures have been in effect, such as handwashing stations, daily cleanings and sanitations and temperature checks.

The Superdome work was deemed essential by Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, per Jack Baer of Yahoo Sports.

As Baer also noted, this isn't the first time that groups of workers at stadiums have tested positive for COVID-19 en masse. Mick Akers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported on May 27 that there were 15 active COVID-19 cases among workers at Allegiant Stadium, the home of the Las Vegas Raiders.

The number of cases at SoFi Stadium, the home of the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, went up to 12 on June 4, per Nathan Fenno of the Los Angeles Times.

The United States has had over 2.07 million confirmed positive COVID-19 tests, per the World Health Organization. On Monday, the new case total reached 25,314, which marked the country's one-day high since June 8.

The Superdome is home to the New Orleans Saints, who are scheduled to host their home opener on Sunday, Sept. 13 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Preseason matchups are currently slated for Aug. 29 and Sept. 3, although NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported that the preseason may be shortened to two matchups.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Jameis Winston attended a Black Lives Matter march on Saturday.

"Relentless pursuit towards making this world better for generations to come!" he wrote in an Instagram post. "It starts now! If not now then when?"

Following the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor, Americans began protesting to demand reforms to address police brutality and systemic racism.

The issue will feel particularly acute for some NFL players after Colin Kaepernick faced significant public scorn for protesting during the national anthem. The former San Francisco 49ers quarterback told NFL Network's Steve Wyche in August 2016 he "[was] not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color."

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league made a mistake by not offering better support to players who wanted to engage in social activism:

That came after a number of players requested the NFL make a public statement condemning racism and the "systematic oppression of black people."

The NFL also announced Thursday it was donating $250 million over a period of 10 years "to combat systemic racism and support the battle against the ongoing and historic injustices faced by African Americans."

New Orleans Saints running back Alvin Kamara will attend Sunday's race in Miami in the wake of the sport's decision to ban the Confederate flag from all events and properties. 

Kamara tweeted a picture of Bubba Wallace merchandise he received with the caption, "See y'all tomorrow @NASCAR."

Per B/R's Master Tesfatsion, Kamara's decision to attend the Dixie Vodka 400 is a "direct result of NASCAR banning the confederate flag."

When NASCAR announced it was banning the Confederate flag Wednesday, Kamara issued a response on Twitter:

Kamara also live-tweeted Wednesday's race from Martinsville Speedway in Virginia. The 24-year-old won't have to travel far to reach Homestead-Miami Speedway, as he spends the offseason training in the Miami area.