Saints chastise Navy veteran for 'sad and divisive discourse' after he turned down an award because of kneeling NFL players

pulse

November 3, 2017 6:07 PM

The Saints said they will continue to honor and support the military after Navy veteran John Wells turned down an award from the team.

Navy veteran John Wells turned down an award from the New Orleans Saints due to ongoing national anthem protests.
Wells called the protests a "slap in the face" to service members.
The Saints issued a statement calling Wells' comments "sad and divisive," saying they will continue to support the military and service members

The New Orleans Saints issued a statement in response to Navy veteran John Wells on Thursday after Wells turned down an award from the team.

According to The New Orleans Advocate, John Wells, a Navy veteran and executive director of Military Veterans Advocacy, turned down the chance to receive the Peoples Health Champion award during the Saints' Week 8 game.

Wells said he was declining the award because of the ongoing national anthem protests, which he called a "slap in the face" to service members.

"Throughout Mr. Wells’ media appearances today, he has stated he no longer supports NFL football. That is unfortunate and disappointing considering the New Orleans Saints' unwavering 50-plus year commitment to honor, support and recognize our servicemen and women and veterans. We will not allow Mr. Wells’ decision and subsequent media appearances to distract our players and organization from continuing to honor and support our military and veterans. We, as an organization, have decided to move on from this sad and divisive discourse and focus our attention on supporting our military and veterans. In lieu of honoring Mr. Wells, we will use the time allotted for the Peoples Health Champion Award to highlight non-political military advocacy programs and encourage our fans and community to join us in contributing to these groups who directly support our military and veterans."

pulse

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.ng