Saints quarterback Drew Brees reportedly received condescending treatment from Panthers owner Jerry Richardson during a February 5 collective bargaining session.
On Monday, Brees addressed the reports during an interview with Sirius XM’s Mad Dog Radio.
“Well, I mean, this is all I can say is, yeah, I was in that meeting and obviously anytime there’s negotiations I think there’s some back and forth to those,” Brees said in a partial transcript provided to PFT by Sirius XM radio. “And I wouldn’t say that things were disrespectful but what I would say is that there’s are a lot of issues to get through and we’re obviously not going to agree on everything and so it’s a process and there are a lot of things to consider here. So hopefully we can continue to make progress here from now until that March fourth date. I think we’re all hopeful that a deal will get done but if it doesn’t then we will deal with that.”
Some have characterized Brees’ words as suggesting that the reports of disrespect, which came from Cardinals kicker Jay Feely and Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports, were exaggerated or overblown. We aren’t prepared to agree with that; Brees is the consummate professional, and he’s not going to call out Richardson publicly, because Brees knows nothing good will come from doing that.
Meanwhile, a Panthers spokesman called the reports of Richardson’s behavior to be a “mischaracterization,” according to the Charlotte Observer. (Frankly, we doubt that a Panthers spokesman would have said the reports were true.)
Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, the other player who reportedly was disrespected by Richardson, has not addressed the reports. We’ve got a feeling that Manning will remain silent -- and that if/when he throws six touchdown passes against the Panthers the next time the two teams meet, we’ll know how he feels about the situation.