Drew Brees: ‘Nobody Believes Anything That Comes Out of the League Office’

One of the NFL’s most respected veterans says that people no longer respect the NFL league office.

“I feel like the league has lost so much trust from players and just the public in the way that they’ve handled these investigations, the lack of transparency,” Brees told CBS Sports Radio’s Tiki and Tierney. “They’re certainly in a position where nobody believes anything that comes out of the league office right now as it pertains to really much of anything. You always feel like there’s an agenda at play and nobody’s ever telling you the truth. So, I think that’s the real issue here, the lack of trust.”

Brees referenced the Deflategate controversy in which the league chose to disbelieve the testimony of its referee on the gauge used to measure balls in order to keep a case together against fellow future Hall of Famer Tom Brady as well as the Bountygate punishments meted out against the New Orleans Saints by Commissioner Roger Goodell that his predecessor overturned while acting as an arbiter. Goodell’s credibility took another major hit after repeatedly shifting the discipline of Ray Rice in response to to public outrage over his initial two-game suspension judged weak in light of closed-circuit video of the running back knocking out his future wire in an Atlantic City elevator.

Brees and the New Orleans Saints open the season at home on September 11 against the Oakland Raiders.